Jon's Knit Blog

Manly Tears

OK, so you know I'm a sap, so how could I do anything but cry at my sister's wedding? And even though this post has just about no knitting content, I hope you'll read it all the way through.

I should probably start telling the story of the long "weekend" by starting at the beginning. The trip began rather inauspiciously with the need to use the men's room at LaGuardia. I went to the entrance only to be completely confused because a woman was exiting. Another guy who had also been intending to enter and I gave each other looks as if to say, "What the fuck?"

Lo and behold, we were at the right restroom, and she had erred. Would you believe, then, that this was not the only time over the course of the weekend that I saw "improperly gendered" use of public restrooms (there were two at the wedding!)

Anyhow, I got to Ohio on Wednesday and helped my mom finish up with the placecards and seat assignments, then we prepared for the onslaught of tons of family. And it was fabulous to see everyone!

Thursday was all about errands: haircuts, and such like. I told my mom that after my haircut I was going to stop at the mall because I really needed a new pair of sunglasses. She proceeded to forget that little note, and called me frantically while I was trying to get into my rental car to leave the mall. I think she thought I was dead in a ditch, although as soon as she got me on the phone, she remembered that I was at the mall. And I do love my new Revo's!

We had a small dinner at my parent's house on Thursday evening. We fed about 14 people for around $300. Bear in mind that I'd had a $300+ dinner for two on Tuesday... So that was sort of trippy!

Friday was spent running around, picking up cousins at the airport, driving everyone everywhere, and the like. The rehearsal dinner was, well, just what you'd expect although I have to say, none of us particularly seem to care for our new in-laws so we did manage to sneak in a few laughs and rude comments at their expense. Still, it was (mostly) nice, although it turns out his dad is a terrible public speaker. I think he said "Um" more often than he said actual words. I also found out that his wife doesn't know how to spell the word "assuming." (She thinks it's assumming. Guess she wants to rhyme with her husband's "Um"s...) No walk-on role for her in "Spelling Bee," I guess!

My sister gave me a gift for being part of her wedding, and she came and sat next to me while I opened it and read the card. It's maybe too personal to tell you what she said (I trust, dear reader, that you won't be offended that I said that), but I will tell you that I was sobbing when I was done reading the card. Big, wet, round tears. Big hugs with the sister. I'll never forget that moment.

Oh, and the pink Giotto flouncy scarf was a gift to the flower girl, who absolutely went gaga over it. It looked so cute on her!

Saturday the first phone call I got was from my sister, asking me to bring the veil and her "hair jewelry" (what's the right term for this? It was a lovely piece that fastened to her head by bobby pins, so I know it was not a barrette, but it was lovely anyhow). How she forgot to bring these to the salon herself is beyond me, but I didn't mind at all going over there. Until I saw the make-up lady applying cover-up (or something) to my mom's, um, decolletage. Didn't need to see that. Got coffee and left. Probably need more therapy now. Joy.

Went back to the house to get ready for the photographers, videographer, wedding planner, bridesmaids, bride, mother, groomsmen, groom, and probably about 1,500 assorted characters to show up. We did photos before the wedding, everyone together, at the house. So he ended up getting to see her in her dress well before the moment of walking down the aisle. But the cool part? I was the one who got to "escort" him around the back of the house and "introduce" him to his bride, if you will. I'm getting minorly teary just remembering that moment.

The weather was almost perfect - it had been mostly to partly sunny so far, but the wedding day itself was actually overcast - which made for great photos, as nobody ended up having to squint into the sunlight, and the light was very diffused. It did manage to rain a couple of drops, but as Em reminded us last weekend, a couple drops of rain on a wedding day makes for good luck. So no worries there!

Here's where I can insert another mis-use of bathroom story. My sister, just as the groom is processing, announces that she has to pee. Does she have time? The music is on, suddenly I'm holding her flowers, and the wedding planner's telling the next processional girl to "Walk slow! Extra slow!" Luckily, the musicians have to finish "Air in G" before they stay "Claire de Lune" which is the music for the bride's attendants. And so Mom decides to go to see if she needs help. By running into the Men's Room! Luckily, everyone made it out on time.

The wedding itself was gorgeous. I was the "Man of Honor" and as such, got to walk myself down the aisle. I was crying so hard I could barely remember the 1-1000 2-1000 count the wedding planner had told us to use for pacing our procession. Hell, I could barely walk! But I made it up there, and only proceeded to cry more and more throughout the ceremony. Good thing I'd thought ahead in the handkerchief department!

The ceremony was incredible. The rabbi really made his speeches so much about my sister. The fact that he took the time to make it especially about her meant so much to all of us. It was beautiful.

And so was the reception. I've never seen my parents dancing like that. And the dance lessons my sister and her fiance husband took really paid off. They were superstars, and their first dance was just gorgeous.

Later during the reception, as I was ducking into the kitchen to ask the wedding planner something (what, you think she coudl do her job without me? Bwahahaha!), I saw a guy coming out of the ladies' room. So, so, sooooooo confusing!

But I have to say, the whole weekend was just wonderful. They're in Hawaii now, and who couldn't be jealous of that? As for me, I still can't quite believe that my baby sister was married.

I also can't quite believe that my mom, at some point after the ceremony, told me that she wished the same for me. Regardless of the permanent prolonged single-ness of my life, I don't know that even if I did find "the guy" which I consider altogether unlikely, that I'd want to have the whole fancy wedding thing.

What's that? Take the money and run? Hell yes. That way, I'll be able to buy more yarn. Imagine how much yarn you could buy for what a wedding costs these days!

Posted by Jon at June 20, 2005 12:54 AM