10/23/2009 Wow
Somehow, it has been almost a full year since Jim and I were married, and I've been thinking through the events of the days leading up to October 25, 2008. I just loved our wedding (wedding planning, notsomuch). We were married at The Belvedere Inn, a bed and breakfast in Saugatuck, Michigan. The Inn had ten guest rooms which we filled with our friends and family. Having all those people together under the same roof was so cozy and comforting, and then for the wedding when everyone arrived, it got even better! This seems a strange comparison, but I'll make it anyways. When my sister and I were younger, one of our favorite make believe plays was to pile all our stuffed animals and dolls on the bed at night and pretend we were on a boat in the sea. What really happened to lead up to this is that we were on a boat ride at an amusement park, when SUDDENLY the guard rail SNAPPED in two and there we went, in our little covered boat, out to sea with no one to save us. We seemed to get over the feeling of despair one might feel in this situation and moved on to the care and protection of Heart to Heart bear, Cabbage Patch Dolls A, B, and C, Nellie the elephant, and Teddy Ruxpin. I loved that make believe game. Lying there in the dark, surrounded by all our stuffed animals, next to my sister, made me feel so safe and warm (though occasionally one of the kids would fall in the water, which sometimes became hot lava, requiring a daring but successful rescue attempt and stern disciplinary action). But honestly, staying at the Belvedere that weekend, with everyone we loved all around us or just down the street, gave me such a similar feeling. It was that comforting sense of togetherness and continuity, a richness that I can easily conjure up if I just pause and imagine it all again. And all those people are still there in our lives, just spread out. It makes us realize how fortunate we are. Tonight, a year apart from that weekend, we are sitting in our apartment that now has not one but TWO leaking rooms (one from the ceiling, one from the floor. go figure), and my husband got so mad when I showed him our sopping wet carpet that he sent an awesomely angry email to our building manager who has made the choice to not take us seriously for over a year now (reason #534 that we're happy we rent and don't own! ). The ceiling continues to bead with drops of water even though the rain stopped hours ago. But it is our wedding anniversary, and the thought of my life now with Jim, our cat, and our families, just makes me so happy. Even with the drips. I'll leave you with this picture that Kris took on our wedding day that made me so pleased when I first saw it. October 25, 2008 was a bear of a fall day in Saugatuck Michigan. Rain in the morning, wind, threatening rain all afternoon, goosebumps aplenty, and Kris managed to forever immortalize this strip of blue sky on our wedding day: -)
