Going to the Chapel... Or the Wedding Hall

Just one week until Grace and Jack cross that bridge -- the proverbial bridge, not the one in the picture.
Marriage.
But who, besides me, hears the guy from Princess Bride saying marriage with his inability to pronounce Rs. Which is called "rhotacism" by the way.

Wedding plans are coming along. Seats have been assigned. Bills have been paid. Menus are set.
We're debating favors for the wedding guests, still not sure about that but I have 150 little boxes in case we decide yes.

The DJ knows the drill. Earl and Grace have had professional instruction for their father/daughter dance.
The boys and Earl picked up their new suits yesterday.
I'm still debating which dress to wear, but it doesn't really matter because all eyes will be on Grace. And maybe on the ring bearer who will be adorable because he agreed to wear a kilt to match Jack's.
I'll keep you updated.

It's Official

Today, after four years of dating, our daughter Grace and her boyfriend Jack made it official. They're engaged.

It's not official til you share it on Facebook.

We're very happy for them. Their love for each other is an inspiration. Neither of them is perfect, but it looks like they found their perfect imperfect partner. And they've weathered some tough times together.

They did a photo shoot with a wolf

They met four years ago in May when they both were in a production of Hamlet. Grace was dating another guy on and off and I was kind of rooting for him. I jokingly called Jack by the wrong name -- Josh -- for awhile, before it became obvious that they were serious.
After a year of dating and some frustration about finding time to see each other, I suggested they just move in together. They are both always involved in acting, usually in different shows, so after work, they'd rehearsal, and they rarely had time to see each other most evenings. At least if you lived together you'd know you would see each other eventually, I said.

After one of Jack's shows

They spent two summers apart while Jack was in a show that required him to live on premises about 90 minutes away from Columbus.

They have traveled together, exploring Scotland, Ireland and England. They visited Jack's family castle in Scotland -- the MacRae Clan and discovered that the castle wall says as long as a MacRae is within, a Fraser will not be without. Our family clan? The Fraser Clan. Perhaps this love story was written in history.

That look.

People always ask if a guy is someone you approve of for your daughter. My standards have always been high. There is one requirement. That he love her with unbounded love. And I think she has found that in Jack.
In fairy tales, a wedding is the end of the story, but we all know that a wedding is really the beginning of a whole new life for the two of them.

12 Days of Appreciation -- Day 7

Love.
Obviously, I married my husband 25 years ago, after two years of dating, so we love each other.
At the time we married, I realized that I loved him in a soaring, unconditional way that he might not have reciprocated. He loved me, but it was more tempered.
He has told me since then that he couldn't imagine life without me. So we married.
But today, I can unequivocally say that he loves "me more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow...." My husband loves me more now than he did on the day of our wedding.

And that's a beautiful thing.

Saturday Snapshot -- A Wedding

Join West Metro Mommy for this weekly meme of photos people have taken and share on their blogs.
Friday evening, I went to the first same-sex marriage that I've attended. The Supreme Court ruling in June made same-sex marriage legal in Ohio.
Grace and Tucker had a swim coach in high school who lived with her partner. The two had been married before in another state, before a court had struck down that state's marriage law.
Now, they are married in Ohio and throughout the country.
The two walked down the aisle holding hands with their 12-year-old daughter.

On the way back down the aisle, with her parents married to each other, tears dripped down their daughter's cheeks. 

I thought nothing else about the fact that two women married each other, until Earl and I were leaving, after eating, drinking and dancing. 

We stopped to congratulate Leslie. 

"You two have always been lovely to us," she said. 

That's when it struck me that there must have been others who weren't lovely to them. People who judged them or shut them out because they were two women in love with each other. 

That made me so sad. 

I hope that one day soon, the expectation will be that everyone treats each other with respect, no matter what kind of relationship they're in . 

Wedding Fun

Yesterday we traveled to Kentucky for my cousin's daughter's wedding.
We love Morgan. She's one of those people with an infectious enthusiasm for life. She looks like she should be a weather girl on a local television station and her southern accent just melts my heart.
The announcement at the beginning of the wedding requested that people refrain from taking photos during the wedding, to be in the moment instead. Which I did.  However, other people didn't, so I stole one of their pics off Facebook.

During the reception, we took advantage of the photo booth. 

That's me with the mitre hat, next to Grace and my niece Caroline in the tiaras, and my sister-in-law Dawn in the cowboy hat. 

I took a nice photo of my cousin Mike dancing with Morgan. He cried as he walked her down the aisle and couldn't hold the tears back again as they danced. 

But my favorite moment was the throwing of the garter.

Grace and Caroline joined the single women for throwing the bouquet, but Morgan turned around and handed it to a friend.

Here's her actual bouquet, which she didn't throw. It's made from brooches.

Spencer didn't seem to be inclined to join the single guys for the garter toss.

We told him the goal was to catch the garter. We didn't explain that meant he would be the next to get married.

He lined up at the end of the group of guys. Then we saw him flexing his knees. 

Being a bit competitive, Spencer takes a challenge quite literally. Of course, he played  basketball for years and he has many jump balls under his belt. When the the garter was in the air, he went up for it, like a basketball, leaping in front of all the other men to snatch it out of the air. 

Why, oh why, didn't I videotape that? 

Here he is with the garter.

I don't see a wedding in his near future. 

We had a hotel and planned to spend the night, but when we got back to the hotel room around 10, I suggested we just drive home. Earl's a night owl, so he agreed to drive. 

Spencer, who generally doesn't get home until 2 or so, said he would help drive too. He fell asleep by 11 and slept hard until we woke him in the garage at 2 a.m. and he thought we were at the hotel.

Missed Wedding and More Croissants

On Saturday, my plan was to drive the four hours to southern Kentucky for my aunt's wedding.
My Aunt June, my father's sister, was marrying an old high school crush at the age of 75.
She's been married before and has had some tough times. Her first husband died when their little girl was only 4 or 5 years old. She remarried a man who had an alcohol issue and they eventually divorced. We thought she found happiness with an older man she knew in high school. They were married for a long time, but he was sick most of the time.
When Aunt June saw Paul at a high school reunion, they hit it off. They have only dated a few months but they were eager to get married, reminding family that they have a limited number of years to spend together.
So on Saturday they were married.

Grace and I had planned to go, but on Friday when I went to pick up Grace from college, she was sick with a fever, headache and upset stomach. She felt a little better on Saturday, but not well enough to spend eight hours in the car and I didn't want to risk getting all of our relatives sick. We stayed home and got updated on the wedding from my cousin Melinda and her daughter Morgan, who we love.
Morgan stood up with Aunt June. She's just so vibrant and beautiful.
I hope Aunt June and her new husband are very happy. They're starting with a two-week honeymoon.
This morning, Grace is feeling a little better so I made chocolate croissants from Trader Joe's. Like the croissants I blogged about yesterday, these croissants had to be set out the night before and they rose, ready to be baked the next morning. As I baked the croissants and make cafe au lait, Earl cut up some strawberries. Then we watched a House Hunter's International set in Paris. The single woman got a nice apartment in the Marais for $525,000. Terrific morning.