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VIDEOS

The kids are back on the ground in Boston.

The entire house and yard 'complex' is back to normal except for a host of daisies in galvanized pails. Our wedding flower. See below.

And the wedding itself is a series of little mental videos that play randomly in my brain.

The final, relief giving, checkoff on the to do list. The City Councilman, Rick, who did the honors, showed up in plenty of time. I can see him rounding the corner.

A report from 'out there' that there wasn't any crowd forming at 1:40. Then, a later one that said "they must all be here because most of the seats are filled".

Relief.

Then the gathering of the 'bests' and my kids for the procession. The listening for the musical cues. (We hit the mark on the dot) and the lining up with John telling everyone to walk slowly. One more time.

Then the crowd. My god! Did we invite all these people?

Our walk in. The arrival.

I look at the faces. A sea of them. Very close.

I work hard to listen and look at Rick as he gets us into it.

The promises.

The vows. I got it out.

I try very hard to listen to John's. I got most of it.

I see the faces on the other side as we walk out.

All that is coming up for me.

How do I feel today? Married. I am surprised. It does feel different.

First in a civil ceremony way. We are legit. It is the real thing. I have a husband! It is not just a term of endearment.

We were validated. We stood before our family and friends.

And I look at him and know that we are at a deeper level of bonding. Forever. That is a long time.

Here are his vows to me.

Most marriage vows are spoken when we are young, before we even know who we are - much less what we need. Vows filled with promises - to be who we hope is wanted, to do what we think is expected and to do it forever.

The vows I make today — when I am no longer young, when I know who I am, what I offer as well as what I want — these vows are;
to be as reliable as Orion,
to stay as interesting as Franklin and
to complete a journey I am proud to share.

I will keep these vows with gratitude, and joy and serenity.

And I will love you forever.

Regular readers will recognize the Orion reference. I write about his arrival every year. Then his departure. The only constellation that I know and look for.

Sweet, huh?

Oh. The daisies. Out here they call them Margarites.

After one of our last breakups, I had a 'date'. I brought him back to my apartment after dinner. Or maybe we didn't bother with dinner.

We came down the hall and, there at the door, was a galvanized bucket filled with daisies. John had bought the whole thing from some street vendor.

I had to explain and the guy told me that he couldn't come inside with me. He couldn't upset a relationship that was so obviously important.

I wasn't too happy at the time but now I see the event as providential.

Now we have daisies when ever we can think of it.

Today, I saw a lot of people who were there. The reviews are glowing. The word 'perfect' comes up a lot. Or 'the best wedding I have ever been to."

One surprising thing. Many people mention the birds singing so loudly. We do have a lot of birds in our yard.

I was so self centered that I did not hear them. But everyone else did. Great. Atmospherics are important.

Labels: gay wedding, wedding