Our Story of the Week is Twist – a wedding day story from the writer Joe Cushnan.
Joe was born and raised in Belfast, but left for England at twenty-two in 1976 to pursue a career in retail management. Following this career, and having always had a passion for writing, he placed his memoir/handbook Retail Confidential with a publisher.
Over the past decade, Joe has accumulated an impressive portfolio of published features, journals and poetry. Some of his work includes self-published books of fun verse, and a biography of a 1960s film star, Stephen Boyd: from Belfast to Hollywood. He also writes a regular blog.
In this short story, Joe describes a beautiful celebration of love, a perfect wedding day but for one small twist.
Enjoy!
‘It was Chubby Checker who did it, as he has done many times before. As soon as The Twist started, the dance floor filled up. There were hoots and squeals, gyrating hips, flailing arms and a competition amongst some to see who could master the ‘round and round, and up and down’ manoeuvre. Most wedding receptions like a golden oldie disco, and this one hit the spot with Tamla Motown and rock and roll on the playlist. Robert sat this one out, nursing a bottle of lager, semi-hidden behind a pillar. He was fixated with the bride, watching her every move as she danced, witnessing her joyful relief that the marriage service had gone smoothly.
It had been a big wedding with sizeable numbers of family on both sides of the aisle and a large contingent of friends. The bride had entered the church to Labi Siffre’s It Must Be Love and she had looked beautiful. Her father had been proud. Members of the congregation had smiled, given the thumbs-up and blown kisses. The bride had beamed and blushed.’ Read More…