Wisdom/Celebrations
4B • Daily Corinthian
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Engagement
Luxembourg in spotlight with royal vows BY DON MELVIN Associated Press
Jesse Matthew Puckett, Emily Beth Carpenter
Carpenter — Puckett Miss Emily Beth Carpenter and Mr. Jesse Matthew Puckett will exchange wedding vows at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 at Elk Springs Resort in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The bride-elect is the daughter of Jeffrey and Donna Huggins of Cherokee, Ala. She is the granddaughter of the late Charles and Janice Cox of Rienzi. The prospective bridegroom is the son of Robert and Deborah Deaton and Kent Puckett of Tishomingo. He is the grandson of Walter and Jolene Puckett of Dennis and the late Joy Puckett of Tishomingo and the late B.C. and Earlene Riddle of Burton. Miss Carpenter is a 2005 graduate of Biggersville High School. She received her degree from Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2010. She is presently employed at Tishomingo Healthcare as a nurse. Mr. Puckett is a 1998 graduate of Belmont High School and a 2004 graduate of Mississippi State University where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and his master’s degree in agribusiness management in 2006. He is presently employed at USDA Farm Service Agency in New Albany. All friends and relatives of the couple are invited to attend the ceremony and the reception which follows.
LUXEMBOURG — The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg doesn’t get a lot of turns in the spotlight. It’s an independent country tinier than Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state, and it would fit inside Germany, its neighbor to the east, 138 times with room to spare. It won no medals at the 2012 London Olympics — in fact it hasn’t won a medal at the summer Games since 1952. But this week is Luxembourg’s turn to shine. Prince Guillaume, the heir to the throne — the grand duke-to-be — will marry Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy. It will be a two-day affair, including fireworks, concerts, a gala dinner at the grand ducal palace, and two marriages between the betrothed — a civil wedding Friday afternoon and a religious ceremony Saturday morning. A glittering array of European royalty has been invited. The guest list for the religious ceremony includes kings, queens, princes and princesses from European countries including, among others, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Lichtenstein, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania and Britain, which is sending Prince Edward, Queen
Elizabeth’s youngest child, and his wife, Sophie. Non-European royalty will be attending, as well, from Morocco, Japan and Jordan and elsewhere. With all those royals coming to Luxembourg, can international attention be far behind? “It’s good for Luxembourg,” said Nadine Chenet, a 46-yearold street cleaner who was picking up cigarette butts with pincers in front of the grand ducal palace. “Many people will come now.” Besides, she just plain likes the royal family, she said: They give a good impression of the country. That’s a sentiment common in Luxembourg. To all appearances, the bride and groom are a lovely couple. He is 30, with dark hair and an immaculate beard. She is 28, blonde and smiling. In public appearances, including at the London Olympics, they have appeared besotted with each other. According to biographies distributed by the royal court, each has an array of interests befitting those who are to the manner born. Guillaume speaks four languages, has studied international politics, is a lieutenant
colonel in the Luxembourg army (a force of 900 soldiers), and has been engaged in humanitarian work in other countries, including Nepal. The duchess-to-be has studied the influence of German romanticism on Russian romanticism, plays piano and violin, swims, skis, and says she reads three books at a time. In the language department, she already speaks French and German — two of Luxembourg’s three official languages — and, perhaps more importantly, is studying the third, which is called Luxembourgish. She plans to renounce her Belgian citizenship in order to become, eventually, Luxembourg’s grand duchess. Luxembourg is a linguistically complicated country, a reflection of its complicated past. It began as a Roman fortress. It has, at one time or another, fallen under the control of Spain, France and Austria. In 1839, it gained its independence from the Netherlands, but lost more than half its territory to Belgium, which now has a province of the same name. In the 20th century, Germany swept through Luxembourg twice despite its protestations of neutrality. Luxembourgish is related to German, but it is primarily a
spoken language. In the country’s schools, elementary students take all their classes in German. When students reach their teens, gradually all classes are converted to French. And English is studied the entire time. But the language dearest to their hearts is Luxembourgish. As 71-year-old retired engineer Rene Ries — a typical Luxembourger, with a French first name and a German last name — said, Luxembourgish is generally spoken in the home. Above all, citizens are proud. Proud of their multilingualism. Proud of their grand duchy. And proud of their royal family. The current grand duke, Henri, who is 57, is popular. People can greet him on the street without bowing down before him. His 31year marriage to Grand Duchess Maria Teresa appears to be very happy. Showcasing the royal family, as the country will do this week, allows Luxembourg to put its best foot forward. For, as Ries emphasized more than once, the Luxembourgish royals — in contrast to some others — do not sunbathe topless. And for him, that is a source of pride, one he is happy to share with the rest of the world. “It is a good family,” he said.
College grad living at home wants more control of life DEAR ABBY: I am 24 and graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. I am currently living with my parents. They are a bit controlling and hate resistance from me. I grew up doing everything they told me with no personal opinions of my own, until I met my fiance a year ago. He has helped me gain the strength to speak up and let my thoughts be known. We’re trying to save enough money to live together. Mom has made it clear that she doesn’t like that idea because we’re not married yet. She and Dad are also unhappy that I no longer want to work in the field my degree is in. (I worked for a sheriff’s office for a couple of months and was treated horribly, then I was fired.)
I have told my parents repeatedly that this is my life, but it seems Abigail to do no Van Buren good. Do you have Dear Abby any suggestions on what I should say to them about these issues? -- GROWN-UP GIRL IN ALABAMA DEAR GROWN-UP GIRL: You appear to be a bright young woman who was raised to be submissive and compliant. That may be the reason working at the sheriff’s office didn’t work out for you. Rather than turn your back on the profession you trained for, you need to learn to be more assertive. That way you won’t be dependent on anyone
else for the strength to voice your opinions, or live your life according to the standards you set for yourself. P.S. Return to the college from which you graduated and talk to a counselor there about the various career options in your field for someone with your degree. Surely there are more opportunities than working at that sheriff’s office. DEAR ABBY: My stepdaughter, “Sharon,” has invited us for Thanksgiving weekend and insists that we be her houseguests. As sweet as she is, she and her family live in a borderline “hoarder” home. The last time we visited our hometown, we stopped by to see them. After a struggle to get the front door open, Sharon’s first words were, “We
2012
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know it’s a mess. We don’t clean or cook.” When we returned to our car, my husband said he had never seen a house that filthy. But he insists we accept their invitation and not hurt their feelings. I’d rather get a motel room and take them out to dinner. I have strongly voiced my concerns for our safety and health to my husband. How can I address the subject of needing clean sheets and being able to cook a meal, and getting to the (dirty) bathroom during the night? I’m already having anxiety issues. -- HAVING NIGHTMARES IN TENNESSEE DEAR HAVING NIGHTMARES: I sympathize with your husband’s desire not to cause hurt feelings, but the invitation under these circumstances is not practical.
Sharon should be told that you are a very private person and you would not feel comfortable getting up in the middle of the night and flushing a toilet; therefore you would be more at ease in a motel. If her kitchen and eating areas are “filthy,” you should not eat in her house, either. Your husband should cheerfully assert his role as the patriarch and insist on taking the family out for Thanksgiving dinner. How can she argue? After all, “Father knows best!” (Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.)
Today in history Today is Sunday, Oct. 21, the 295th day of 2012. There are 71 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History On Oct. 21, 1962, the Seattle World’s Fair closed after six months and nearly 10 million visitors. (President John F. Kennedy, scheduled to attend the closing ceremony, canceled because of what was described as a “head cold”; the actual reason turned out to be the Cuban Missile Crisis.)
On this date In 1797, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as “Old Ironsides,” was christened in Boston’s harbor. In 1805, a British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed. In 1879, Thomas Edison perfected a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. In 1912, classical music conductor Sir Georg Solti was born Gyorgy Stern in Budapest. In 1917, members of the 1st Division of the U.S. Army training in Luneville, France, became the first Americans to see action on the front
lines of World War I. In 1944, during World War II, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen. In 1959, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened to the public in New York. In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon clashed in their fourth and final presidential debate in New York. In 1967, the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat was sunk by Egyptian missile boats near Port Said; 47 Israeli crew members were lost. In 1971, President Richard Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Both nominees were confirmed.)
Ten years ago President George W. Bush said he would try diplomacy “one more time,” but did not think Saddam Hussein would disarm — even if doing so would allow the Iraqi president to remain in power. A car packed with explosives pulled up to a bus in northern Israel during rush hour, igniting a massive fireball that killed 14 people plus two suicide attackers. “Jackass: The Movie” had its world premiere in Hollywood.