This was not originally going to be a wedding in the legal sense - it was being called a Love Party and was conceived as a commitment ceremony punctuating a fabulous weekend of fun. The week before the event Jamaica and Nelson (the starring couple) started feeling matrimonial and decided they would indeed go all the way. They went to City Hall and got themselves a marriage license.*
There were many, many highlights of the weekend. Here are just a few:
- First, the most obvious one: me gonging to open and close a short silent meditation, after a dramatic reading of Jon Kabat Zinn's "Wherever you go, there you are." I had one friend tell me afterwards that he thought the second gong was much better than the first one. They were both good, he insisted, but the second one was really great.
- I must say, the rest of the ceremony was pretty awesome, too. It was meaningful and moving without being too long, for which I doubly salute them. I won't go into great detail but you should know that it included a pagan handfasting ceremony, a sake ceremony, their own love stories for one another, a sanscrit chant and a rocking rendition of Cat Stevens' "Peace Train" which Eric played on guitar while Nelson's best man Campbell sang, with backup support from Nonoko and me**
- Square dancing to the music of the Dalton Mountain Gang, an awesome bluegrass band that was surprisingly willing to do requests, including a handful of songs they may or may not have actually known. Last time I went square dancing I was about eight months pregnant and all the bouncing got to be, well, uncomfortable. This time was pure unqualified fun.
- Seeing happiness everywhere, most importantly in the faces of Jamaica ans Nelson.
*The accompanying family planning literature probably feels more relevant when you aren't already pregnant, as in my case with Eric.
**My gonging was better than my singing, truth be told
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