s.w.a.k.

 

Yesterday, someone asked me something about Mr. Right, marrying people.  I think I might have shared much more than they bargained for.  It went a little something like this…..

According to me,  he is the best, greatest, most amazing husband, dad, Papa in all the land.   He is one of the good guys.  The kind of guy that lifts others up.  He is the kind of guy, that even after a long commute home, phone call with grandgirlie number one, dinner, clean up, made juice, made his lunch,  bathed the big hairy Golden Retriever,  watered outdoors….. he still had time to play a new board game, not get to frustrated at my lack of understanding the rules and THEN sit in the living room and do his reading, while I did some embroidery.  (my stitching light is in there and I don’t want to move it, she said whining)

It is coming into full-on wedding season and once again he finds himself helping people get hitched.  I love this part of his character and “resume”.  I adore that he is the kind of man who people ask to marry them.   Young and old, military or civilian, family and friends and people he has just met for the purpose of hitchin’ them together, they all end up feeling honored that he guided them through a day of pure goodness.   Trust me on this one, he is the guy you want in your corner.  He honestly does not remember the bride’s “colors”.  He has to be gently reminded to take the wedding favor the bride and groom are giving away.  He looks like he cares when I steer him over to look at the amazing  illuminated cake table.  

He is the man who can’t tell you what flowers were in the bride’s bouquet or what shoes the Mother of the Bride wore.  He is the guy who believes kindheartedly in the marriage.  The meaning. The union.  He is the guy behind the scenes working on the script, the words, the sincere passages that will guide and direct their path.   The months and years ahead.   He believes in the goodness of people and the pure joy and happiness as they begin a life together.  A very well-educated man of honor, responsible, loyal, honest, conservative in his personal views, patriotic, pays his taxes on time, mows his lawn, keeps a well tuned up and clean car, adores a good pun, God-fearing and loving American…….AND he still believes in happily ever after.

He is not the puffed up, pompous,  feeling bigger, stronger, authoritarian, demanding man standing before all.  He is the guy who cleans up well and is there to lift up, help and welcome  a new couple to the club.  He and I have been in the “club” for 32 years now.  Oh yeah, he is the real deal.

A couple of pictures popped into my head.  The very first couple I saw him marry was inside the parents’  living room.  I remember the ceiling of the home was a very swirly texture, spotless  home, very European in design.  It was years ago, the groom was scheduled to leave for Afghanistan the next morning.   The wedding was short and sweet. You could feel the intensity of the moment.  They signed the license and ran out the door, laughing, holding hands and giggling.  We all stood there for a moment.  The air had been taken out of the room.  The parents and family and friends all once again began talking and laughing and of course everyone wanted cake.   No, the bride and groom did not stay to enjoy a leisurely piece of cake and chat with their guests.  They had “other” important plans.

I have been witness to him marrying people in a gazebo, in a barn, in a hay storage shelter, in a park, in a building, outdoors in full view of the Space Needle, in an office, in backyards and inside homes and on and on the list goes.  Tears slipped out of my eyes as I watched him marry our son and daughter in law in the middle of a lemon grove with flowers and citrus trees all around them.

In the second wedding picture, you might look at the happy couple just married, he in his stunning kilt, she in her ruffled, take your breath away dress, I am looking at the person who just married them.

Many of the guests were caught up in the backdrop of hot, brilliant sunshine glimmering off the Space Needle and the Seattle sky line.  All of us were fascinated by the kilts and bag piper and the ring bearer dog.  (who, I might add was the most well-behaved, well-trained dog, I have ever met)

I was the girl in the back, looking at the person officiating.  I am the girl still getting goosebumps when I look at my guy.  I am the girl in the last row, who still giggles when she catches his eye across a crowded group of 200 + guests.  I can send him ESP and he receives it.   “hey, nice save.” “good job” or “let’s blow this pop stand, change clothes and get a donut on the way home” .

When he says those happy words, “you may kiss the bride”, it never fails to make me smile.  It seals the deal.  It is like the secret handshake of the marriage club.  Each time any bride or groom, any age, gets a smooch it seals the deal one more time.

This Friday, when he invites another couple to “join the club”, yes, I will be tickled to peek inside a landmark mansion I have been wanting to see for ages………..I will be the one  in the back row, smiling and swinging her feet, gazing at her “boyfriend” like a school girl.

May your marriage path begin with an amazing guide, and may your days be sealed with a million and one kisses.

“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.”  ingrid bergman