On Saturday I conducted a wedding ceremony for my son. He married a Polish lady he met on his big OE. They are very happy together and make a great couple. The advice I gave them in the ceremony was that they should make sure they stay friends and keep on talking and listening to each other. There were just eleven at the ceremony, all my children with partners and our handicapped daughter. It was a special weekend.
We held the ceremony at the church. All eleven of us standing together on the platform, my daughter read a poem, another son looked after the rings and the oldest two were witnesses. There was a special moment when we gathered for a final prayer. We then (after obligatory photos) gathered at the back of the church for cake and champagne, seated in the couch and easy chairs there. My oldest daughter and my wife had planned all these fancy bits. After this we adjourned to our place for a brief sit in front of the fire, before going around the corner to the historic Carey's Bay hotel where the planning women had booked dinner served in a lounge attached to a suite that had been booked for the happy couple.
On Sunday the newly weds took over our kitchen and cooked our midday meal together, before four went back to Christchurch and two went back to Wellington. What was special was just sitting listening to the conversation, laughter and sharing. My children (the youngest turns 30 next year) were relating positively, caring for each other, enjoying each other and sharing the costs and chores of the weekend. It was a delight to see, they were simply nice to be around, seemed happy to be together supporting the newly weds and being with us as their parents. It was a warm fuzzy time for me. We were like a group of close adult friends enjoying time together. The house seems quiet today, I am happy (because it was tiring) and sad about that. There is to be a ceremony in Poland next year for her family over there and we all hope to attend and meet them. That will be yet another experience. I can't have been too bad a dad after all? Or maybe humans are really resilient?
Photo: Relaxing after the ceremony at the back of the church. (Church of Christ forbears would be spinning in their grave... alcohol in church!???) But it was nice, natural and OK.
1 comment:
Well, he's a lucky man. When I was in Poland, I was impressed with how attractive the women are!
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