Winnie’s Corks

As a shower gift I received the book Winnie’s Corks by Jeffrey Wittig, along with the book I was given a very large glass vase, two bottles of red wine and a package of sharpie markers.  While I didn’t really understand what the gift meant I figured my older sister and Matron of Honor had something very sweet up her sleeve. 

I was correct; my sister explained the premise of the book.  I’ve included the description of the book below.

From amazon.com, “A small comfortable home in Maine, the well-tended garden, and the promise of another cold winter on the way. Is that all there is for the rest of my life, Winnie wondered? But that all changed with a phone call from her daughter, Beth. "Mom? I'm moving back to Maine. Can you watch Elaine after school?" And so Winnie's life (which had been moving a little too slowly), took a sudden and powerful turn from which she would never be the same. Elaine had noticed the corks that very first day, sitting in a basket on the hearth of the fireplace. "What are these, Grandma?" she'd asked, holding a cork in her hands. With some reluctance Winnie described their history. "All my special moments for the last 48 years have been preserved with a few words and a date and placed in that basket," she explained. Memories, she'd sighed. The good, the bad, and the unexpected. And so a promise is made and each day after school Elaine is allowed to reach into the basket and pull out a cork, and Winnie confides in her granddaughter, telling the story of that moment in her life. As the two women forge a friendship, Winnie discovers more than she thought possible about her own life and the future it holds. Stories are shared. Memories rekindled. A passionate new love is found, and adventures begin anew as a family is reunited.

These are the stories of Winnie's Corks.”

My sister told me that what she hoped was that there were many moments in my life with my new husband and both of our families that were worth writing on corks.  It was a very sweet gift and one that I will cherish forever.

So, fast forward to about 2 weeks after our wedding; I had not started to read Winnie’s Corks yet and decided that it was probably time to check the book out.  I started to read the book on a Thursday evening and literally could not put it down, I read the book at every possible moment I could.  The story had me hooked from the first page and I couldn’t wait to start my own corks.  Now, one small little piece of info you should know…this book is not just story after story of each cork, it includes a story about a family in their present day and things that happened to them.  This book includes a heart break, a love story, reconciliation and many more facets of the family.  I’ve read some reviews that didn’t like that it wasn’t just about the corks but that was what I loved the most about the book, Jeffrey Wittig was able to incorporate the corks into the story of an incredible family.

I finished the book in 3 days and have enjoyed documenting some amazing times during the last three weeks via corks.  Now most people who know me know that I love myself a nice glass of red wine or champagne.  So there is no shortage of corks in our house but I'm careful to only write on corks during special occasions or if there is a story I want to remember about that wine.

I will tell you quickly about my two favorite corks, the first cork was from a bottle of Coppola that Mr. G and I shared on our one month anniversary.  We lit candles, cooked a nice quiet dinner at home, listened to romantic music and danced to our first dance song in our living room.  My husband and I are romantic individuals however at our reception during our first dance there were so many flashes going off and so many people around that our first dance was a little less romantic than I imagined but that was okay because we were surrounded by our incredible family and friends.  So as we danced in our living room on our one month anniversary I mentioned to my husband that our “second first dance” was more romantic than our first first dance.  We had a good laugh. 

The cork reads:

June 4^th, 2013
ONE MONTH
Second First Dance

The second cork was from a bottle of Cristalino Rose that we enjoyed on Sunday night June 9^th.  We had been at Bed Bath & Beyond picking up some items from our registry that we needed and decided to use the gift cards we received to purchase a Roomba for our home.  We brought the Roomba home and got her all set up, in about 10 minutes our lives had changed.  Ha ha, I am slightly over exaggerating but to say we love our Roomba is very much correct!  Once the Roomba began running around our house, bumping into things, getting stuck under the couch and running over my toes (twice) we decided we absolutely had to name her.  On June 9^th we introduced “Rosie the Roomba” as the newest member of the G family and decided to toast to Rosie.  Our families think we are fairly crazy but they laughed at how excited we are about Rosie.

Here is what the cork reads:

06/09/13
WELCOME
ROSIE THE ROOMBA

Needless to say, I would very much recommend Winnie’s Corks as a great summer read….or anytime read.  No, I didn’t get paid to endorse this book; I just loved it so much that I wanted to share.  And I would encourage anyone who reads it to start writing on your corks, it is an amazing way to remember great stories.

Here are some pics of the book, corks and vase we store our corks in.  I hope all of you are well and enjoying the summer, the weather is finally getting better here in Minnesota.

 

 

With love,

 Mrs. G

 

 

The Male Rebuttal

For the record, Mrs. G makes some very good points about the difference in male and female and wedding pictures.  And it is true, I may not have been as into them as she had hoped and I hope my beautiful wife can overlook my male pattern indifference. 

I would like to point that I did well up a few times myself.  They are beautiful pictures and April at Sophisticated Grace did an absolutely amazing job.  She is extremely talented and it shows.  The pictures were very moving and it did bring back wonderful memories for me.   It was truly a blessed event but I will turn to an issue that Mrs. G and I have been struggling with for years.  I don't like the way I look in pictures.  Very critical of myself and prior to the wedding I think I put on 15 pounds.  Most people before their wedding lose weight.  Apparently I missed that memo. (When my family has a wedding there is at least a week's worth of celebrating of different kinds all involving heavy food and drink. And I indulged generously.)

Heading into this wedding I had hoped to look like Justin Timberlake however I more looked like our 27th President, Howard Taft who is best known for his ample size and 300 pound frame.  Type in President Taft into Google and the top suggestion is "president Taft weight."  (Did you know he was Chief Justice after his presidency? Wonder what he weighed then?)

As I looked at these pictures, it wasn't that I didn't think they were wonderful, it was I was seeing something I didn't expect.  A much heavier me!  True, I didn't have as much gusto and excitement as my blushing bride but I think that is common however the weight thing did get to me.

Sooooo, I hope my wife can forgive me.  It's not the first time we've had this discussion.  But I did hit the gym this AM so maybe that underwear modeling contract is around the corner.  Right, Mrs G??? 

Mr. G