My Sister's Wedding
For the first time in almost two weeks, I have the time and energy to post about my sister's wedding. Grad school is not nearly what I was expecting, but more on that later.
Despite all that happened, or maybe because of it, that weekend went by awfully fast. Erin no doubt is more glad than anyone it's over--she's always been shy and hates public speaking, and had it been up to her she and Ryan would have eloped to Hawaii. She made it quite clear several times that the ceremony was for my and Ryan's mothers' benefit. But on the whole everyone was happy with the ceremony, and I know she and Ryan were happy with it too. They really are the perfect couple--two geeks in love.
After one screaming baby and two hours in the airport of Atlanta, I was back in Houston. I was off and running the next day, picking up my tuxedo, running various errands, and shopping for a new outfit to wear to the rehearsal dinner. I again met up with Ryan and his parents, whom I'd gotten to know last Christmas, a few of Ryan's relatives, and the horde of my own relatives who had come from all over--my uncle Jim came in from Dallas, my cousin Matt and his family came in from Chicago, my cousin Dereck came in from Portland, and my cousin Laura brought her kids with her from Baku, Azerbaijan. I had met the maid of honor briefly, got to know the best man, and then availed myself to the wine that just kept on coming. And I was not the only one.
With the meal over I proceeded to mingle. At one point in the mingling, Ryan's mother Colleen came up and told me how much she'd grown to like me. How I was a sarcastic asshole, and she loved that about me. That was my first clue she'd had a bit to drink. I told her thanks, I was glad to know her too (which I am), and then she grabbed me by the face. She told me that when I got married, I'd better invite her to my wedding, or she would break me. As a general rule, when a slightly drunk woman grabs me by the face, I agree to just about anything she says. This made her happy, causing her to release my face and move on.
My face aside, it was good to see her happy. Rachel, Ryan's sister, had died in a freak accident when the back of a truck had gotten loose on the freeway. Something I learned about right before my 2-day drive up to West Virginia. Naturally Colleen had been devestated, but I think the wedding and getting to know our family really helped her through it. Rachel was listed as an honorary bridesmaid, and her sorority paid for the wedding flowers and came as a show of support. Slightly ironic given my sister's deep hatred of sororities, but it worked out for the best. It's a shame I never got to meet Rachel, she sounded like an interesting person.
When day finally arrived, the women in my family ran around in panic. The men, on the other hand, got up at a leisurely pace and finally managed to get going around ten or so. The wedding took place on a boat that would sail out of Kemah around Galveston Bay for the reception, leaving after the ceremony. When I got there, I was somewhat dismayed to see the groom's cake. See, everyone in the groom's party were like me, were all physics majors. As such, Ryan said he would put some equations on his cake. I didn't think he'd do it, but there atop his red-velvet cake were Maxwell's equations in chocolate frosting. Shaking my head, I went to put on my tux (in which I looked fabulous, by the way).
After a long rehearsal and several pictures taken in the sun, the ceremony finally got started. I escorted my grandma, then my mom, then finally my cousin Margie down the aisle before taking my place by the Unity candle. My little cousins Kaylani and Cameron drew numerous "aww"s as the flower-girl and ring-bearer respectively. Then came my sister, in our great-grandmother's wedding dress. My great-grandmother had gotten married in 1907, and somehow her dress had survived the last hundred years, and looked positively stunning on my sister. All I could think through the ceremony was how good she looked as she got married. That, and how hot the Unity candle right behind me was. The heat of it bore straight into my back, and if I'd taken a step backwards I swear I would have caught on fire.
Before I knew it my sister was married, I was marching back down the aisle with Margie again, and the boat was underway. We all gathered at the side of the boat to throw beads at people on the boardwalk, and then went back in for the reception to officially begin. No band or DJ required--not with my family. My uncle Jim played a waltz on the piano for an opening dance (Dad, Ryan, and Erin had all taken emergency lessons) while a friend of the family played the violin. Then my dad brought out his banjo and the jam session started. After a bit of that, we all came downstairs for dinner, and soon enough it was time for the toasts.
The best man started off, talking about meeting Erin and Ryan in college, gave a few embarassing anecdotes about Ryan, commented that they both were Eagle scouts and even recited the Scout Law. Then it was my turn. As I said before, Erin doesn't like being the center of attention, and she was afraid that I would embaress her. Especially after the many ominous comments I'd said about my toast all weekend. But, ultimately, love won out.
"Hello, I'm Kevin, 2nd groom'smen and brother to the bride. There are some stories I could tell there...but instead, as a wedding gift, I'll talk for a bit about Ryan. I first met him at his and Erin's graduation, and as I got to know him better at our family gatherings, I learned about what a unique person he could be. You all have probably noticed the groom's cake by now. Those equation's were all Ryan's idea, but they're actually quite fitting. They're called 'Maxwell's Equations,' and they represent the four fundamental laws of electromagnetism--a force of attraction between two opposites, that's even stronger than gravity. By several orders of magnitude. And when I look at my sister, and my new brother-in-law, I can't think of anything more appropriate. So I want to raise my glass to Erin and Ryan, and let me just say this: if you ever have kids, I'm spoiling them rotten!"
After the toasts were then, the reception went on from there. My cousin Christopher tried to get me to give him some wine, I was asked twenty times from twenty different people when it would be "my turn," giving more flippant answers each time. The single women all fought each other when Erin threw the bouquet. It was slightly different when Ryan threw the garter. I had called Christopher up with the other single men, and he made a face when I explained to him the significance of catching the garter. We all took a step back and let it hit the ground, then convinced my cousin Cameron to pick it up (he's five). All too soon, the boat came back to Kemah and I had to get ready to fly back to Morgantown for my early Sunday flight.
I heard from mom yesterday that Erin and Ryan are back from their honeymoon, hiking around British Columbia. It's still hard to believe that my sister is married, and I have a brother now. My sister and I now have different last names (probably, she never really agreed to that). A few years from now I could wind up being an uncle. Life goes on I suppose, and we all grow wiser and more mature. Twins run in my family, so who knows how many neices and nephews I'll end up having.
But I do know that those kids are getting some drum-sets for Christmas.