Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

The first time I visited the Bristol Renaissance Faire, I was hooked. I could not wait to return. There is so much to see and to learn and to do, one visit does not do the place justice. I often tell friends that visiting Bristol is like trying to take a sip from a fire hydrant. My senses are overloaded trying to take everything in. 

Currently, mixed feelings are a theme at Bristol. The bittersweet days of the closing weekend are upon us. 

This. Is. The. Last. Weekend. I am just going to let that sink in to my heart.  It is difficult to explain to people who have never been to Bristol how we can be so attached to an event or a place. What and where do not even factor into the equation of our attachment. It's the WHO. Attachments are about the people, people. 

Chuck has been going to the Ren faire for years, and couldn't wait to introduce me to this amazing village of living history. These last two summers I have made so many new friends at Bristol. It was easy to understand why the Ren faire was so important to my sweet husband as soon as I met his friends. 

We think of Bristol as our happy place. Disney has nothing on Bristol; it's the happiest place on earth. We go every single chance we get. This season, Chuck has only missed one day and I've missed three. We feel sad when we don't go. We will take advantage of every moment these last days; I can't think of anything that would keep us away. 

Okay, maybe two reasons: hospitalization or death, but let's try to keep things as upbeat as possible right now. 

We get to spend our weekends taking pictures  in a very picturesque location, and we get to share our photographs with the beautiful people who are in them. 

One of the highest honors we receive as photographers is seeing someone post one of our photos for their profile picture on Facebook, or mayhap give us photo credit when sharing one of our shots. (I used mayhap. I feel like one of the Old English cool kids.) Occasionally, someone likes their picture so much, they request a high-resolution image so they can have it printed. That's it for us. There's no financial gain. There are no other accolades. We take pictures because we love to take pictures. And there are so many pictures to be taken at Bristol.

Photo Credit: Chuck Bennorth
Thanks, Hunny!

The people in these pictures are the reasons the last day will be so hard. We have come to consider them our faire family. I've taken thousands of pictures this summer. It was hard to choose my favorites, but I did my best.  

Thank you, each of you, for taking time to greet us warmly, to pause for a picture, to share with us your stories. I'm still relatively new to photography, and some of you have been very patient with me as I fiddled with my camera, and even asked for another chance to capture the shot I was envisioning. You have been so kind. Gramercy for the smiles, the laughter, and the friendship. 

We will not say goodbye to you, which seems much too final. We will offer you a warm, "See you anon, cousins" or "Merry meet again, m'lords and ladies." In the words of the bard, old Shakespeare himself, I must agree that "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Bittersweet, indeed.

"Merry meet, 

merry part, 

and 

merry meet again..."