Party Like It's 1999: Happy 10th

It's not for a couple of days yet, but I want to wish my sister and bro-in-law a

Happy Tenth Anniversary!

Wow, 10 years. That is hard to believe. I'm truly happy for them, and our family is blessed to have such a cool guy join the family. (Dave and I would have been friends in high school... very similar interests)

I will probably blog more thoughts, but here are some things I remember:

• It was really special to see my sister get married in our church. We have been going to the same one since we were little.
• I vaguely remember that my father and I didn't quite set up the reception hall correctly with respect to balloons. Let's just say that we thought we did a fine, if utilitarian, job. When the work was surveyed by the supervisor, there was much disagreement. Yikes.
  
• I was asked to read at the wedding. I thought the poem was a nice touch, as it was used by others in the fam, but upon reading it closely, I was stunned. It was gorgeous and articulated a thought that had barely surfaced in my own mind. I practiced it so loudly and so long (in different voices) that my sister nearly laughed at the actual reading in the church. More on this one later. Massively influential.
• Everyone looked great (my sister was radiant, my bro-in-law: dashing), and it was a lovely day.
  
• I'm pretty sure that they were married by a female minister who was really fantastic. Alas, she joined our church just after I went "away" to Ontario and then the US. She was really cool and I regret not getting to know her better.
• At the reception, our Dad constructed a mini-putt golf course. To get the couple to kiss, one had to sink a putt. The course wasn't groomed to PGA standards and it quickly became a par-3.
• My bro-in-law mentioned guitar during his thank-yous but I didn't realize at the time that he was a huge fan of Randy Rhoads and Steve Vai, and could play a lot of RR stuff. (This is like winning the in-law lottery).
• I spoke at the reception. As a public speaking performance, it is the only time where I have no self-criticism: A+. This is fortunate because it was one of the few times it was truly, profoundly important. As Mom would say, "you only have one sister". I have told the story to several people, in person. The gist is that it was, by turns, heavy and funny; but the main thing was reciting a poetry verse to my sister. I didn't write it, but it was highly personal. It seems crass and a betrayal to write it here. Though sad, it remains the most beautiful (and haunting) thing I've ever read, and I can still recite it effortlessly.
  
• The 2nd part of the reception moved to the very same fire hall as mentioned in the post about Uncle R and C. I remember that the couple danced to "From This Moment On" by Shania Twain. It was cool to meet Dave's family. I vaguely remember his Mom trying to set me up with someone... ha! I had forgotten.

I'm comfortable with my lifestyle, and am at peace with the Beethoven-esque golden years that probably await me, but as I've written many times, I'm a sucker for a good wedding. This one was great.

Here's toasting the next 10....