Happy Newly Weds!

What an uber challenging, wonderously blessed & love-filled year 2013 has been! The year began as the previous year had ended, with chronic autoimmune illness. While I can't say I'm 100 percent healed, I have done an incredible amount of healing. The healing has taken an enormous amount of effort, expense and a complete dietary lifestyle transformation.

Most incredible of all, I married my husband in the thirteenth hour of the 11the day of the 12th month of the 13th year in this young millennium. 

We had planned to tie the proverbial knot earlier in 2013, and had not planned to move. Life clearly had other plans for us, including the sale of the condo we were renting, and of course my health challenges.

Our marriage plan had always been to elope with our officiant, our dearest friend Margo, to our home in Mexico where T proposed to me in March of 2011. Of course I said yes. We wanted our ceremony to be very intimate and authentic with as little pomp and circumstance as possible. We also very selfishly wanted the day to just be about us and our love we share vs. being about other people, which would be contrary to the point. Yes, completely outside of the typical “norm.” We would then have a celebratory reception with our beloved family and friends in Seattle a few weeks following. Both the move and health challenges took priority. So our union was placed on hold, unjustly pending better health …

As I continue working diligently to recover, I gained clarity about living each day fully with intention. Unbeknownst to T, our special day would commemorate nine years since the first time we laid eyes on one another in the same space we were first introduced, almost to the day.

In early December 2004, we were introduced by our business chamber’s executive director at an event hosted by the Seattle 5^th Avenue Theatre’s Producer’s Club. The week prior to the event Louise gushed about T to me. I had always thought of her as the Jewish mother I hadn’t ever recalled asking for and loved anyway. Unbeknownst to either of us at the time, this very business as usual event may very well have altered the course of both our lives because of one uber socially involved yenta.

That our plans were on hold indefinitely, it was only natural for one of us to wonder whether his fiancé still held to the same intention. Coming to realize this, I spent the following weeks planning, in secret, a day which would make my intention clear and hopefully sweep T off his feet.

On Wednesday, the 11th of December, 2013 just before one o’clock in the afternoon, I lured T to the Producer’s Club via one of T’s clients, top Seattle event guru Stephanie Solomon. T was expecting to meet with an out-of-town bride to begin brainstorming her wedding invitations. When he arrived, T was a bit thrown off as I greeted him at the door to the Producer's Club.

I brought Terry into the heart of the club and sang ‘Somebody’ by Depeche Mode to him. I then sat him down, got down on one knee and asked whether he would do me the honor of sharing a life together. When T said yes, photographers then entered and captured T’s surprise. I then asked if he wanted to tie the proverbial knot right then and there. He clamored, stating we needed Margo, my mom and his sister. I then called for the ladies to bring out our attire. My mom Patty (from Coeur D’Alene) and our dear Margo (from San Francisco) walked into the room bearing our formal attire along with his sister Missy. The rest is history, nearly.

Margo (pictured left) orchestrated an exceptionally beautiful ceremony. Just prior to the ceremony, and completely uncoordinated, both T's sister and my mom gave us something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

My mom took out a beautiful piece of embroidered fabric with the letter A monogrammed on it. It was my Great Grandma Mimi's handkerchief. Mimi gave this to my beloved Grandma when she got married. My Grandma gave this to my mom when she got married. And my mom gave it to me. My heart swells.

 

Our hearts full of love, everyone’s eyes glistened joyfully. After we said our ‘I do’s,’ we posed for some photos at the theatre, at Kerry Park and then our party met up at one of Seattle’s finest dining institutions, which opened just for us. We had an early supper in El Gaucho’s private wine cellar with a beautiful bottle of champagne T’s client Stephanie had awaiting our arrival. How she knew what we were doing after the theatre still puzzles us to this day.

After a delicious early supper and some cake, we said our farewells and headed to our suite at the Four Seasons where our dog Millie had been anxiously awaiting us. The hotel even gave her turn down service. We enjoyed treating ourselves to the hotel’s spa and a couple's massage, took Millie on a long walk around downtown (viewing the marvelous spectacle of holiday lights), did some shopping (thank you gifts for our bridal party at Tiffany's). We rode Seattle’s Great Wheel, which was a bit dizzying and spectacular nonetheless. All-in-all we had an exceptionally fine, even perfect, day in every way.

T has been asked several times if he was OK with me just doing what I did. He said he wouldn't have changed a thing. While I wouldn't change anything either, I would absolutely have loved for my late Grandma to have been physically present. This may seem odd, much of me feels as though she was there with us, not just in spirit, helping guide the day's events in perfect harmony.

A day well lived is a day fondly remembered, always ...