A wedding! Mazel tov!

[cjsmith]

I love weddings, and this one was particularly special. Yeah, I'm a romantic. :-)

Yesterday afternoon rfrench and I attended the lovely and simple wedding of fyellin and his longtime partner Mark. One is Jewish and the other Unitarian whoops, Lutheran, and the ceremony embraced Jewish and Christian traditions in a harmonious blend. (I wish I knew what the love song said! It was beautiful, and I don't understand Hebrew.) It was clear that everyone there was ecstatic that after more than eighteen years together, Frank and Mark could finally be married legally. The cheers that erupted when the officiant said and by the power vested in me by the State of California were spontaneous and heartfelt.

The reception was held at their home, where we walked past the framed marriage certificate from their last go-round, in 2004 in San Francisco. The cake had several dates on it, which I suspect were their first ceremony, the San Francisco marriage, and yesterday's California-legal ceremony. At the reception the groom and groom wore T-shirts emblazoned PARTY A and PARTY B.

Thank you, Frank and Mark, both for inviting us and for quietly showing such a steadfast example of love and partnership. Thank you, humanity, that we're getting this far in recognizing such things.

Comments

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Ohhhhh, wow, I *LOVE* the touch of the "PARTY A" and "PARTY B" T-Shirts!!! A perfect detail to a beautiful story! :D

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Isn't that awesome? They have a great sense of humor.

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Did the person performing the ceremony say "I now pronounce you Party A and Party B!"? Perhaps followed by "a happily wedded couple". Would've been great fun!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

He pronounced them "Married for LIFE!" That echoed a few comments in previous speeches, along the lines of how impressive it was that any human beings "...can live together for eighteen years, and THEN after that, COMMIT to staying together in the future." :-)

[rampling.livejournal.com]

I just recently realized that my longest relationship (other than with members of my birth family) is with mira_kitty, including being longer than my marriage ('83-88). Well, she's chosen family anyway. I must admit I find these long-term couples quite impressive (and inspiring). :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Rob only recently surpassed my late lamented Princess, who was 21.5 when she died. He had quite a ways to go to catch up; I got that cat when I was something like ten!

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Well, you and Rob are one of those Impressive Couples too!

Ohhh, I hope mira_kitty can make it to her 20s too!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Fingers crossed!

[rampling.livejournal.com]

And polydactyl digits crossed too!