A Pandemic Reception a la Zoom

When we arrived back at the condo, I could not stand the thought that we were done.  A cake was awaiting us (red velvet with cream cheese frosting, no less), but we had to do something special.  So enter Zoom again!  We dialed up the siblings, and it was once again, a Zoom extravaganza!

First, on the grass outside, we announced Mr. and Dr. Stucky, then we had some confetti to shoot at them, and then Daniel had to carry Di across the threshold.  He seemed a little perplexed by that, but hey - why not?  I think the video is too long to post here . . . too bad, because it was really fun!

Then they opened some champagne glasses, Daniel miraculously opened the champagne without any sort of bubbly explosion, they cut the cake, and then they gave each other a piece.  We all agreed that smashing the cake in each other's faces is not a good look . . . so they were very sweet in how they gave each other their cake!

Tia and James joined us for cake and champagne, and then it was over.  It certainly was not the big event most young people have at their wedding, but we all toasted - and roasted - and had a nice time.  Unfortunately, all things must come to an end, and everyone left, leaving us to our reception dinner of ribs.  We were supposed to have corn, also, but oh yes . . . it was in Wichita in the refrigerator.

Despite a few missteps, we had a wonderful day, and Di and Daniel are happily married.  They went back to their hotel, and they confessed that they were exhausted!  That means a good time was had by all!

Pure Joy

Di is a dancer, and she was really looking forward to dancing at the reception.  Well, that was not to be, but she found her own way to celebrate - at least for a minute or two.

A little after the wedding, she and Daniel were standing in the grass when she started to twirl her dress.

The spontaneity and joy they expressed was a pleasure to behold!

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.