Legendary Love Angel Wedding Sue
I've been meaning to write this post for almost two weeks, but between packing and work, things have been busy.
Two weekends ago, ayilmaz and I went to our fifth Full Circle of Women conference. ayilmaz and I met there four years ago, shortly after my SRS. That's also where we met Peri, and then Kathleen and Rachel last year. At last year's conference, Kathleen, Rachel, Peri, linuxspice, and I discussed sharing a room this year... and when K&R contacted me a month or so ago to confirm that everything was go, they informed me that they wanted to get handfasted, and asked me to officiate.
Kathleen and Rachel stopped in Toronto on our second night in the apartment, on their way to the conference via a visit to Kathleen's kids in Maine. We had a brief chance to chat, and Kathleen loaned me Raven Kaldera's handfasting book, which had some ideas that Kathleen thought might work for their ritual, and then they headed off and sort of left me to work things out. I spent most of Saturday at the conference sitting in a lounge at the retreat center writing ritual text, and we had the ceremony around the bonfire later that evening. Both brides were beautiful, and everyone joined in the festivities, and it was a good time all around, and mercifully free of the drama that saoba had to deal with.
Before the ceremony, we had our "sharing circle" -- another FCOW tradition, which was the point at which ayilmaz and I had gone from flirting to actually starting a relationship during our first FCOW. Everyone brings something to share at the circle, and takes turns sharing it with everyone else. My part was a lengthy reminiscence about ayilmaz's and my courtship, and the story of that first weekend four years earlier, and what had happened since. I ended with "...and so it comes to this. Amanda Elif Yilmaz, will you marry me?"
She said yes.
Two weekends ago, ayilmaz and I went to our fifth Full Circle of Women conference. ayilmaz and I met there four years ago, shortly after my SRS. That's also where we met Peri, and then Kathleen and Rachel last year. At last year's conference, Kathleen, Rachel, Peri, linuxspice, and I discussed sharing a room this year... and when K&R contacted me a month or so ago to confirm that everything was go, they informed me that they wanted to get handfasted, and asked me to officiate.
Kathleen and Rachel stopped in Toronto on our second night in the apartment, on their way to the conference via a visit to Kathleen's kids in Maine. We had a brief chance to chat, and Kathleen loaned me Raven Kaldera's handfasting book, which had some ideas that Kathleen thought might work for their ritual, and then they headed off and sort of left me to work things out. I spent most of Saturday at the conference sitting in a lounge at the retreat center writing ritual text, and we had the ceremony around the bonfire later that evening. Both brides were beautiful, and everyone joined in the festivities, and it was a good time all around, and mercifully free of the drama that saoba had to deal with.
Before the ceremony, we had our "sharing circle" -- another FCOW tradition, which was the point at which ayilmaz and I had gone from flirting to actually starting a relationship during our first FCOW. Everyone brings something to share at the circle, and takes turns sharing it with everyone else. My part was a lengthy reminiscence about ayilmaz's and my courtship, and the story of that first weekend four years earlier, and what had happened since. I ended with "...and so it comes to this. Amanda Elif Yilmaz, will you marry me?"
She said yes.