Secret Invitations
As most
people in the world will know by now, the wedding actually took place on Saturday,
Aug. 23, 2014 on the Pitt-Jolie estate in France. As you can imagine, guests
were there by invitation only. I was lucky enough to get one, but like all who
were present that day, I was sworn to secrecy. Now, though, with the release
today of the announcement by Brad and Angie about their recent nuptials, all
can be told.
Conflicting Commitments
Although
I was glad to be invited to the wedding last Saturday, actually going there, on
that particular day, posed a bit of a problem and came at a cost: I had to lie
to a member of my family. Social butterfly that I am, I was also invited to a
birthday party the same night for one of my sisters, Sue, whose birthday was
actually the next day, August 24.
I had to make a choice, and unfortunately,
for Sue anyway, Brad and Angie won out because they invited me to their wedding
first, before I got the invitation to Sue’s birthday party. Because
I was sworn to secrecy about the wedding in France, I had to concoct an excuse to explain to Sue why I
couldn’t go to her birthday party.
I fed her a line about not wanting to be up
late because it might disrupt my sleeping pattern. I think Sue bought it and am
glad she didn’t press me to explain clearly why I couldn’t go to her party. If that
had happened, I might have felt compelled to tell her I had to go to the wedding in France instead, since Brad and Angie invited me to their party first.
Cautiously Understanding
From my
association with Brad and Angie over the years, I think they would have
understood if I’d accidentally blabbed about their upcoming wedding. But they
wouldn’t have been happy about it. If I
had told anyone about their marriage plans ahead of last Saturday’s ceremony, I
don’t think Brad and Angie would have expelled me from their ‘inner circle’ of
close friends and advisors.
But they might have lost some trust in me and could have been reluctant to have me at
their estate in France where the wedding was held, and at their other homes and
private places in the months and years to come--where we all have enjoyed
pleasant times together.
Spoil the Surprise
Furthermore,
if I had let it slip over the past few weeks that Brad and Angie were finally
going to get married last Saturday, the actual wedding itself likely wouldn’t
have been the news sensation it was today--nearly a week after the event. That’s
because secrecy was the order of the day. They clearly wanted to have control,
in a good way, over this important event in their lives, and over who knew
about it, and over when word of the wedding actually got out.
Everything is Relative
As one
of their friends, I have watched in awe over the years as Brad and Angie have shown
patience with media types pestering them with endless tiresome questions about
when or if they were ever going to get married—as if their potential wedding would
somehow suddenly put an end to world hunger.
Tit-for-Tat
Of course
being patient with reporters repeatedly asking that all-important wedding question
also helped Brad and Angie to help themselves achieve some of their goals. After
all, at those times they usually had one or more projects—such as films, or
humanitarian causes--to ‘sell’ or promote to the public.
So, by
being polite in answering reporters’ seemingly endless wedding questions, Brad
and Angie were also clever enough to know the importance of the old adage, ‘you
scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.’ In other words, they knew if they were
patient with reporters’ queries about a possible wedding, reporters generally
would help promote the movie or other cause Pitt and Jolie were plugging.
Secrecy Paramount
Through
it all, though, as one of their ‘insiders,’ I had one major concern: I knew I
couldn’t let it slip to anyone that Brad and Angie were going to be married
last Saturday. If that had happened, I surely would have ruined the surprise
they wanted to spring on the world, which they did today with the announcement
of their nearly week-old wedding. And of course if I had spoiled their
surprise, I might have fallen out of favor with them, even temporarily.
You Might Say I'm a Dreamer...
None of
that happened, however, so there’s nothing to worry about. In fact, as it is, the
only thing I can be accused of is having a vivid and overactive imagination,
which some might say is abundantly clear here in my current thoughts about this
current affair. 