The Mini-mony

Plans change, and our ceremony plans changed, too.  The initial plans were for Aubrey Ramsey to be the Maid-of-Honor, and Tia Butler and Liz Hollingsworth were to be the bridesmaids; Rick Hasner was to be the Best Man, and Andrew Kinkler was to be a groomsman.  Because Aubrey, Liz, and Andrew would have had to fly to be in attendance, the two attendants who were closest to Austin were Tia and Rick . . . so they were the two involved in the ceremony.

We were to have about 125 people in the peanut gallery . . . instead there were 6 of us!  And we were socially distanced and masked.

But that was ok . . . When it was time, Father Billy, Andrew, and Rick walked to the front of the wedding area, and it was time for Di and Don to make their entrance.  And we waited and waited . . . and I turned around to see Don taking a selfie before he started walking Di down the aisle.

Di was radiant as she walked down the aisle.  and even sans music, it was thrilling to watch her and her dad.  I thought he might cry, but he didn't - perhaps only having a short way to walk and no music made it possible for us to keep things together!

Father Billy's casual style worked really well in the atmosphere where we were.  It was quite hot, so he wasted no time with idle chatter.  The service from the Episcopal New Zealand Prayer Book was very pretty, and I especially liked that rather than "Who gives this woman . . . " the parents were asked to bless the couple.  It included both Daniel's parents and us - and I loved that.

The good news is Rick did not lose the rings, and within about 20 minutes, Di and Daniel were pronounced man and wife.  They walked down the aisle to applause from the 6 of us . . . and it was over.

A few fun points:

Rick did not know Daniel had forgotten his suit, but if the suit had not arrived, Rick had brought a second suit, just in case.  Daniel and Rick are the same size, and the suits they wore were the same ones they wore for Rick's wedding 18 months ago . . . so it would have worked.  Isn't that a great best man?

We zoomed the event for a number of people, but Don and I did not know how to keep the picture large, so those in "attendance" could not really see everything!  But they were there, and they even were asked to chime in a "We will" during the ceremony.

After the ceremony, we toasted the couple with some champagne provided by Aubrey, and then we headed back to the condo.  Not exactly what we had planned, but Di said it was perfect, which is really what counts!!

The Big Day - the Pandemic Way!

The first big news of the day was that Daniel's suit arrived by 9:30 a.m.  Don and I hung it in the bathroom, turned on the shower, and let it steam out.  It was as good as new by the time the wedding arrived.

We drove to the hotel to pick up Daniel, and I stayed at the hotel to be with Diana.  I was impressed with the provisions the hotel had made to keep the guests safe - only one person or family in the elevator, no one hanging around the lobby and we met no one in the halls.  I would say it was as safe as possible for us!

At the hotel, Di put on her make-up, we did her hair (not my strength, but she talked me through it!), I gave her a very soft and cute pajama short set, and by noon, Don was there to take us to pick up the dress and go to Barr Mansion.

I had no idea how we were going to get the dress to the Mansion, but the people at the dress shop certainly knew.  Within a few minutes, we had the dress wrapped in a sheet, and since we had the Jeep, it was easy to fold the back seat down to fit the dress.  Then we carried it into the Mansion (though it looked like we were carrying a dead body!).

The Barr Mansion staff made us feel very comfortable in the room, and after we had talked to Father Billy, arranged Diana's flowers in her hair, distributed the boutonnieres and discussed the social distancing, Di was ready to get dressed!

Di put my Kappa Key and my Mom's Kappa Key on the bouquet - something old and blue!  Unfortunately, her key was somewhere in the boxes in her bedroom, not to be found in time for the wedding!

The necklace was my grandmother's, and I wore it when I was married, too.  Something old - and borrowed!

To go with the copper theme of Di's birkenstocks, the boutonniere was wrapped with copper wire.

One rather humorous picture was taken by Don.  He looked outside and saw a person exterminating yellow jackets from the lanterns that were hanging overhead.  He took the picture and sent it to many friends, mentioning that Bill Murray had just shown up to take care of the preparations - a flashback to the movie Caddyshack.  That got quite the reaction from many men!!

And then it was time!

A Zoom Rehearsal Dinner

Once we arrived in Austin, we quickly unloaded and then began thinking about dinner.  Since we did not stop on the way down, except for gas and bathroom breaks (and a Starbucks), we were quite hungry.  We had planned to eat spaghetti, but we forgot the pressure cooker and Di had not left any cookware in the condo, so Daniel went to pick up a pizza from their favorite pizza place.

Unbeknownst to them, I had arranged with Daniel's parents, Kenneth and Melinda, and Daniel's sisters to have a Zoom rehearsal dinner.  The wedding couple was surprised to see their relatives online, and although it would have been better in person, this worked amazingly well.

Becky started out with a very moving toast to Di and Daniel, and we had the appropriate champagne with which to toast.  As we made our way through the group, each person added their well wishes, complete with laughs and tears, which made the impromptu rehearsal dinner a little more real.  Never mind that we were all in our traveling clothes and a bit weary!!!

Afterwards, it was time to get ready for the big day ahead . . . which included meeting with the new condo property manager, awaiting FedEx for the delivery of Daniel's forgotten suit, and the arrival of Daniel's parents, not to mention the wedding.

Planning a Wedding and COVID-19

Last year, in a simpler, safer time, we planned Diana's and Daniel's wedding in Austin.  It was to be at Barr Mansion on July 10, 2020, complete with a reception afterwards, a breakfast the next morning, and lots of fun in-between.  Who knew things would become so complicated?

First, Daniel took a job in Denver that started in November.  None of us had anticipated this, but he found the perfect position, and we are delighted that Denver is where they will be.

Life continued on, we ordered invitations, we fit her dress, we made travel plans.  And then, along came Covid-19.  At first, we were not terribly concerned - July 10 was a long ways away.  But as things began to unravel, it became abundantly clear that cancellations were happening everywhere.  First, the wedding shower in Wichita was postponed until August.  We realized that asking Di's attendants to fly to Austin was a really bad move; asking our friends to travel there, even by car, was also not a good decision.  So we changed the date of the reception to July 9, 2021, hoping that we could at least hold a small ceremony in Austin this year, and we would have a renewal of vows next year.

As the date came closer, Texas and the virus were plunging into bad territory.  Di and Daniel debated going to a Justice of the Peace in Denver, we considered coming to the Pecos and having my brother perform the ceremony in our meadow, but they really wanted to go to Austin. Barr Mansion was still operating, and on July 9, Di, Daniel, Don and I piled into the Jeep and headed to Austin.  We were very careful to wear our masks, wash our hands, and eat snacks we had brought with us.  It was the start of a very interesting few days!

Stars at Night

One of the most poignant moments in our family occurred in July, 2004.  I had been spending time in New Mexico with my mom, while Don stayed home.  Diana had been in Europe, and the day after she returned home, she and Don drove to the cabin.  Since she awakened early, they were on the road early and arrived about 3 in the afternoon.  Mom and I were in Albuquerque, and unbeknownst to Don and Di, I had arranged for Kenneth to fly to Albuquerque, where Mom and I picked him up and brought him to the cabin.

As we exited the car, Kenneth looked up at the dark sky and saw an unusual formation of the Big Dipper.  We then went inside, where Don and Di were doing the dishes.  "Kenneth, what are you doing here?" Diana exclaimed, as surprised as Don was.

Throughout the next few nights, the formation continued to appear, and several times Kenneth mentioned that he wished he knew someone who could paint the picture.  That being said, none of us knew anyone, and we just had the memory of the stars.

After a few days at the cabin, everyone went home, the kids said good-bye to my mom and me.  I went back home with her, and over the next few months, I visited about every two weeks.  In September, after I took my mom to dialysis, I decided to go visit the art gallery of Angus Macpherson, a cabin neighbor and high school friend.  In high school, I had no idea he was an artist, but I had heard of his work, and I wanted to see what he did.  When I walked into his new gallery, the first picture I saw was a night sky, complete with the moon rising over a hill, shining through the trees.  I found my artist.  Over the next few weeks, I worked with Angus to have him paint a picture for each of the kids, ship it to the school, and have it ready for Christmas.

I had no idea, at the time, that my mom would pass away just before Thanksgiving, and my children would not see her after that time at the cabin.  The significance of that trip to the cabin increased in importance, and we had a rather sober Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We had planned a trip to Yellowstone, leaving on Christmas afternoon, so we had to hurry with packages in the morning.  After the last package was opened, I pulled out one more . . . and Kenneth and Di opened it together, pulling out two beautiful pictures of the night sky.  Quite an emotional moment. (Picture will be attached later.)

Fast forward 16 years.  This past weekend, Kenneth and Caleb joined us at the cabin.  While there, Kenneth went outside to see nearly the same formation as when we were there with my mom.  Now, however, he had a really good iPhone in hand with a super camera on it.  He took this picture:

Sometimes things happen that are not coincidence.  I think this was one of those times.

Reflections on Isolation, Corona, and More

It has indeed been a weird few months.  Not long after we returned from New Mexico, we began to hear of a virus in China that appeared to be headed our way.  We were able to have our Author Dinner, but not long after, the country began to shut down.  We were told to social distance, to stay home.  And we did.  For six weeks.  Right before spring break, schools closed down, churches quit having services, many business closed, all restaurants shut . . . it was something we have never seen before.

We had no Easter services, all sports were shut down, schools did not hold graduations or proms or awards ceremonies, weddings were postponed . . .

And I found out I really enjoyed the quiet.  I loved not having a schedule, we walked the dogs more than ever, we did projects that have been on our list for ages, we cleaned out - but had nowhere to take the stuff - and we didn't drive our cars more than a mile a day!  Although many hoarded toilet paper, we always have a lot on hand, so we escaped that drama . . . but other items were in short supply and we had to adapt.

I found that if I planned meals for two weeks and was not tempted to "make reservations," we did not waste food, and we ate well.  I hope I can sustain that trend.

We also learned about Zoom, and we held three or four Zoom meetings a week.  My high school friends and I have never kept in such good touch.  Don gets together with two of his men's groups, we talk to church friends, I go to Weight Watchers . . . it is rather nice to sit in our family room and not leave our house.

We missed our grandkids - but FaceTime helped us.  I got to see Diana once as we prepared for her wedding.  Unfortunately, she is one whose wedding has been changed.  We will be having a mini-mony on the original date, July 10, and the party will be next year!  I am so proud of Diana and Daniel and the way they have handled their disappointment.  But we have all found that we are relaxing, knowing that there will only be ten of us at the ceremony.

It has been an interesting time.

New Mexico in the Winter

Don and I wanted to test out the new Willie in the winter, so we decided to come to New Mexico.

We arrived in Las Vegas, and spent the evening with Betsy and Matthew.  By the next morning however, we had about 6 inches of snow and by the end of the day, we had 8".  Not exactly what we were expecting, but Don managed to keep the pipes from freezing, and by noon on Wednesday, we were ready to get to Santa Fe.  On our drive out, a rock hit the windshield, so Wednesday afternoon, Safelite was able to repair the chip!

Thursday morning, we met Peter and Claudia and went to Nambe and Chimayo.  Having never been to either place, we spent quite of a bit of time driving through Nambe and walking around Chimayo.  We were at Chimayo on the second anniversary of baby Mia's death, so we had an opportunity to purchase a candle and light it in her memory.  It was a rather sobering day, but we were glad we were in Chimayo.

The trip to Chimayo touched our hearts in many ways . . . and our stomachs.  We had not differentiated between regular red chile and Chimayo chile, but after eating it, we tasted the difference.  We are now died-in-the-wool Chimayo chile lovers!

The trip to Albuquerque gave us the opportunity to see Aunt Ruth, who will be 101 in May, and to see my cousin, Mabel.  We had dinner with Bart and Char; saw our friend Merideth Hmura; went to the Albuquerque Museum to see an exhibit with our friend, Anne; and spent some time with our nephew, Joey and his wife, Traci.

Then on our way home, I insisted that we eat at Frankie's and go to the cabin.  It was a beautiful day, despite the nearly 20 inches of snow at the cabin, and the joy of walking through the snow exhilarated me.  A fall on the road did nothing to dissuade me from continuing, and although we only spent a few minutes inside the cabin, it eased the itch.

Then, we were on our way home.  We couldn't make it home in time, so we stopped at a little RV park in Elkhart.  It is a no-frills place, but it certainly works for a short-term stop-over!

All in all, it was a very successful trip, and the new Willie performed admirably in rather challenging conditions.