Begin As You Mean To Go On

This whole engagement and wedding thing has been amazing. I mean, to be asked to marry someone while decorating the Christmas tree, how could it get any better?

And then came the permission phase with my sons, who were gracious and happy for us, and his daughters who responded with such love and welcoming it still makes me tear up.

And oh the ring! I looked down into the first glittering jewel case I came to and this ring practically chose me instead of the other way around. Once it was on and weighing down my finger, well, I had no choice but to fall for it, and I mean hard. It took less than a minute for us to find each other.

Setting the date and finding the venue seemed daunting and it's a good thing about the internet, because without it there would be no need for a venue or date. We checked out a dozen spots, none of them right, and kind of reluctantly headed up to Auburn, you know, so we could dismiss it in person. It is too expensive, too far, too fussy, and we budgeted a half an hour before we'd be on our way.

Oh, but really, Alfred was their secret weapon with his welcoming charm as he showed us the Irish Pub with bright marigold colored walls and deep leather sofas that serve the most wonderful hamburgers on the West Coast. We could almost hear the happy sounds of family conversations going on all at once as we walked through the Victorian Inn that was big enough to practically fit all of us together. And the dancefloor with those muted lights and candles called out to us, try me! and we did and it fit us just right. Dancefloors almost never do that. And then The Closer, Alfred the Diabolical, came in with a smoking deal.

It's sometimes like that, don't you think, that life storms your world because some things are just meant to become part of you? Take for instance yesterday's offer by a friend-of-a-friend who is a new entrepreneur wedding photographer and offered to take pictures in exchange for advertising. I mean, just like that?

And on that very same day, not to be outdone by a great deal by the Innkeeper and photographer, RMan's boss made a generous, we're talking Generous, contribution to the wedding fund. Can you imagine any boss anywhere doing that? Which is why we're voting for him next time the Boss of the Year competition comes around. And we'll each vote twice if needed.

On August 19, 1979, my mother's best friend passed on some marriage advice on her 30th wedding anniversary: 'Begin as you mean to go on.' If the last two and a half years are any indication of the thirty to come, sprinkled with the generosity of giving and receiving, it will be a life of blessings beyond measure.