Posted by:
knotheadusc
(
)
Date: July 31, 2011 10:35PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieFS785QPkI walked down the aisle to this music and it chokes me up every time I hear it... My church organist had to learn it because it's a relatively new piece written for bagpipes by German composers...
The first time I heard this, I was in church. I was a graduate student at the University of South Carolina and decided to go to church one day. I was raised Presbyterian and there are many Scots in my family. Nevertheless, I was unfamiliar with the gorgeousness that is "Highland Cathedral" the day I went to church and there was a "kirkin' of the tartans". I remember tears streaming down my face as this piece played and Scottish clan after Scottish clan marched down the aisle to be blessed. I remember thinking the music was so beautiful that I would love it played at my wedding someday...
Two years later, I married my convert exmo husband at Virginia Military Institute and marched down the aisle to that splendid piece of music. My husband is not a VMI grad; my father, an uncle, and several cousins are... I also have several relatives who worked there, thereby making me eligible to get married there. But I think had my husband known anything about VMI, he would have been at home there... and he is at this point an Army officer, which makes him really appreciate the setting of our marriage. I chose it because it meant a lot to my family and I knew it would mean something to him, even though I was raised Presbyterian and he is an exmo. So we got married in front of a mural depicting battle, which seems very appropriate in the wake of dealing with his (now) TBM ex wife.
We will celebrate nine years of marriage in November aboard the SeaDream I. It's a luxurious, all-inclusive yacht and was rather expensive to book. Nevertheless, I think it's fitting we'll be there for anniversary #9, enjoying the perks. When my husband was with his first wife and reached year #9, they were in a death spiral, despite his conversion to the LDS church in an effort to save his marriage.
The ex had told him he was "not worthy" to baptize his daughters. She was upset that the bishop had been too easy on him during a counseling session. She claimed he wasn't "good enough" to be a Mormon or to have the privilege of helping her raise his kids.
I met him not long after all of this transpired and knew nothing at all about Mormonism, even though the religion would one day overtake the small town where my mom was born and raised and where I had spent a golden summer as a kid (Buena Vista, VA).
Whenever I hear "Highland Cathedral", I am filled with so much emotion. It was the perfect music for me to walk down the aisle to... not only does it nod to our Celtic heritage (me more Scottish and him more Irish), but it also gives a nod to our favorite duty station as of yet... Germany. We spent two glorious years there and did a lot of traveling... though not enough to quench our thirst for Europe.
I am very grateful that my husband wasn't "worthy enough" for his ex wife or his daughters. I am glad she tossed him away for not being "good enough" for her purposes. She gave me a tremendous gift and every time I hear "Highland Cathedral", especially on pipes and organ, I am reminded how large of a gift she gave me. It's a glorious tune that perfectly reflects nine years of an effortless marriage with a wonderful exmo husband. Every time I hear it, I become positively verklempt at the idea that I could be so lucky... and so Scottish with a nod to the German composers. Indeed, next November, when we celebrate our tenth anniversary, we hope to do it aboard the Hebridean Princess on a Scottish cruise... where my husband can feel free to indulge in as much Scotch as he pleases.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2011 10:48PM by knotheadusc.