A Luminous OLÀ!

   We were younger... wilder... but not any more luminous - au contraire!

I had helped a friend seeking gainful employment 

- joined him in the adventure of working in... 

the retail industry! 

Meanwhile I had met her in a certain Café 

waaaaaaaaaay back in 2004! 

We would make it official in 2010 

and the need to make an official announcement 

was very real - and old-fashioned, too! 

It wasn't on Instagram (I wasn't there yet!) 

And it wasn't on Facebook or Twitter either 

- or any other trendy social media website! 

It was printed on glossy paper 

and pinned to the good old-fashioned dashboard 

in the employees lounge - at the store! 

Those without the habit of reading 

did not even SEE IT... 

But, eventually, everybody knew... 

Everybody was invited - formally! 

(Not everyone attended, though...) 

(That's okay - more food and drink - for me! 

I mean - for us, darling! FOR US! 

And for our more, ah, privileged guests...! 

And NO - that did not necessarily mean 

nor automatically signify 

"FAMILY MEMBERS" 

- because, as it is, I did not want 

that whole bunch of cousins 

from the Laval/Montreal area 

to be there, in the first place! 

(I merely authorized my mother to let 

some of them know about the event - 

but I sure hoped they would decline... 

THANKS FOR NOT SHOWING UP THERE, 

BENJAMIN!!! Among others...) 

In life, you cannot choose your family - they say! 

I always contented that, quite on the contrary, 

you can and you should choose - 

very meticulously and very carefully! 

Choose your true family - 

even if it means ostracizing your own parents! 

(Not that it was my case - at all. 

But I sure have decided to cast myself and 

my loved ones apart from a whole plethora 

of so-called blood relatives; 

they hail from Ontario, Canada... 

Açores, Portugal... 

the aforementioned Laval/Montreal region... 

parts of the United States... 

and elsewhere upon the globe ~ in Europe! 

They may share some of my DNA - 

but, hey, so does the lowest form of scumbag 

criminally-inclined on the face of the earth 

AND I AM NOT GOING TO CONDONE 

WHAT HE DOES - much less hang out! 

Same (shame!) with these "CUZs" 

and other half-lings 

that do not share my philosophy...

my FAITH... 

my outlook on Life... 

my deep, profound convictions... 

my love of the Arts and Justice... 

my love of GOD. 

Those were NEVER meant to be invited  

to this wedding... 

And I say "this wedding" 

because this was a CIVIL ceremony... 

There was what I call 

THE REAL WEDDING 

two months later - in EUROPA! 

In a CHURCH! 

The way it is MEANT TO BE! 

And then, for a select few 

that could not attend either one of those 

we organized a special 

Nuptial Benediction 

at the famed St. Joseph's Oratory 

where - again - the rabble 

was NOT invited... LOL 

But that's another story! 

Now to the OLÀ part - 

read it and smile! 

I know I do... 

...still  one of the best, most succinct displays 

of what my Luminous Writings are all about! 

TEN YEARS AGO... 

on the day job...  

#TenYearsAlready 

just kidding! 

That ONE song wasn't OUR SONG... 

THIS was IT:

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