Capt. SO and I attended a wedding this past weekend. The bride and groom have been around the marriage block more than once, they have whiskers and experience on their side and they are two kind, smart cookies. As with most weddings, I am more inclined to reflect on the ceremony itself rather than ponder what kind of married life the two tying the knot will have.
The audience, or congregation, as in this case the ceremony was held in a church, was comprised of all manner of family members and friends of the bride and groom. Many of us in attendance would not count ourselves as personal friends of the two, but rather church "friends" who wish them well in their new life together, since a wide spectrum of people received invitations to the wedding. The couple requested no gifts as they combined two long-term households and, as they explained to the pastor, "did not need any more toasters".
The pastor delivered an easy and relaxed, off-the-cuff sacred ritual (I know this is an oxymoron.) that met the bride and groom's requests and put all in attendance at ease. The focal point of the ceremony was not the fact that these two got married, but that - from a story about how they met at a local county fair and fell in love with two donkeys - a live donkey was actually brought into the sanctuary and down the aisle.....to the delight of everyone and the surprise of the bride and groom. The donkey, "Hurricane", was a docile animal whose sex was not apparent, and was, thankfully, church potty-trained. While obviously a bit nervous, the beautiful beast trotted willingly down the center aisle, led by the owner - I presume - and obediently let the bride and groom put their hands deep into the little animal's fur.
I cannot explain how touching the donkey's appearance was, except to tell you that tears came to my eyes as Hurricane trotted down the aisle. What trust Hurricane had in its owner/handler! How many of us could walk through the middle of a throng of alien creatures, halter on our heads, rope tethering us to one who is in charge of us?!
The joke now is that you are not really married until the jacka$^* has appeared somewhere in your ceremony. A retired pastor remarked, yesterday, that he'd never had a jackass (Yes, he said it just before prayer time.) in any ceremony he presided over but he'd married a few. (Yes, this 84-year old man said that, too!)
I don't make this stuff up, I just think about what I've observed and heard.
Ancora imparo
