Charmed Day: Two

Em’s brother and I walked the bride down her grassy aisle. The memorial charm with the photo of Em’s dad was attached to her bouquet. We felt as complete as this world would allow.

As with most nuptials, the outdoor ceremony also included a prayer of remembrance. The bride and groom had asked me to write a short piece for Larry and other close relatives who had passed.

Now, in what may seem like a digression, I assure you – even if the skies opened to a deluge, we knew the wedding would be a brilliant day. Em and Ry would make it so – just as Ryan’s brother had turned his very very wet wedding to a sparkling occasion with colorful umbrellas, bare feet, and good humor five years previous.

But we really really knew we would not have to play mind over matter to brighten the skies on October 8 – thanks to Doppler radar. Weather forecasters were having a field day (actually – a field week) promising perfect skies for days before and through the entire Columbus Day Weekend of the wedding.

I took the liberty of trusting the forecast and referred to the day's foregone conclusion of  brillance in the remembrance prayer -- printed below. Matt, Em's godfather, delivered it at the nuptials with elan.

Emily and Ryan would not be the caring individuals -- or couple -- they have become without the cherished connections they share with family and friends here today. From the youngest to the oldest, all of you seated before them have played an important role in shaping their love for others and for one another. We gather this brilliant autumn afternoon, the present faces in the mirror of their lives.

When Emily and Ryan look more closely at this reflection, they are able to see, by the strength of their love and belief, through another side of this looking glass. A side that reveals the faces of loved ones not seated beside us today, but present nevertheless, in particular Ryan’s Grandmother Mullen and Emily’s Gramps Hayden, Grammy and Grandpa Baione, Godmother Olivine, and  Emily's dear father Larry. The couple asks you to look deeply with them and share the company of these loved ones on this their blessed wedding day

Enough said in the spirit of remembrance,  or so I thought . . .