life is beautiful
I find my wife more beautiful, more attractive and more desirable now than I did the day I met her, and she was HOTT then too. I’m not saying that marriage or the act of getting married changed, deepened or enhanced my pre-existing feelings, although in some way it did. I’m saying that every day that I wake up and see her face with her sparkling eyes, her sleepy smile and her glowing aura, I’m more in love than I was when I went to sleep.
I could try and go into the entire vacation in Maine that resulted in a lot of stress, an illness, an injury, two weddings, receiving bad news and being embraced whole-heartedly by the family I was always supposed to have but to be honest the entire two weeks are a kind of blur. When I look at the pictures, I remember. Most of our professional pictures have not gotten back to us yet due to circumstances beyond our (and our photogropher’s) control in the workplace, which constitutes the bad news, I have a few that I can share. I can’t stop looking at them.
Our civil ceremony in New Hampshire was perfectly simple and beautiful. Witnessed by Devon’s mother and step-father as well as her brother Sean (who officiated the spiritual/family ceremony) and complete with certificate that declares our marriage legal (well…in seven states). It was funny, since Maine doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage yet (although it’s on the ballot for November) we were crossing the bridge between New Hampshire and Maine. On one side of the bridge Devon says “we have rights, we’re awesome” and as soon as we crossed the line, she says “annnnnnd, we’re disenfranchised and done”. It was hilarious.
The wedding ceremony was nerve-wracking but beautiful. There were supposed to be scattered showers on Saturday morning, and as I was standing at the “alter” with Sean waiting for my soon-to-be wife, it started sprinkling. Devon’s father went to walk her down the aisle and had raindrops on his shirt – as soon as she steps out of the car, the sun comes up. She’s just too beautiful to get rained on, I suppose. The rest of that day passed in a blur of hugs, congrats and semi-dancing. I was handed an entire glass of tequila by mom (Devon’s step-mother, who has adopted me). It was fun, thrilling and exhausting all at the same time.
The rest of the week was a mix of stress, anxiety, relaxation and planning. We got bad news on Monday as we were driving my co-worker, our photographer and our friend to the airport – our company is doing a mass lay-off due to outsourcing and both of our jobs were included. I have my resume in a bunch of places. It pays to be connected to a head-hunter and a lot of business owners. I’m not particularly worried – I’ll find something and things will work out the way they’re meant to.
Other than that, though, it was a beautiful time. Instead of a honeymoon, we stayed at Devon’s mom’s house for the week. On Friday we took a train to Boston and spent the night in the city and visited with one of my old co-workers who now lives there. On Saturday, we went back to New Hampshire and flew to New Jersey and then home. I now think I need a vacation from my vacation because I’m exhausted and the stress is starting to sink in a little bit. While I’m anxious and nervous, I’m okay. Things happen for a reason, and this is just the ending of an eight-year chapter and the beginning of a brand new story. I have a wonderful family that loves and accepts me. I’ve got a beautiful, charming and supportive wife who I adore more now than ever and I have more friends than I could imagine who are all supportive, caring and beautiful people. I can honestly say that, despite the obstacles, life is good.
