The sun peered through the limbs of our old oak tree casting a mosaic-like shadow on the ground. Dennis stood under it in his pressed navy blue suit and green tie I picked out for him. Tears welled up in my eyes as I walked along the carved path strewn with purple petals. My mother walked beside me, our arms twisted together. The violin, the viola, and the cello played a love song about kaleidoscopes, about wanderers and voyagers. An old friend sang our song then a new one told our story. I couldn’t believe it was happening.

I was worried I would start to cry before I could start to speak like what happened the day before during the run through. I took a deep breath and fixed my eyes on the handsome man standing in front of me.

“Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somewhere in my wicked, miserable past
There must have been a moment of truth
For here you are, standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good” — Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

 
My voice cracked. And yes, I channeled my inner Julie Andrews.

To my Captain von Trapp, to my cockeyed optimist, to my wind beneath my wings, to my friend and, now, my husband, Dennis, you are the best thing that ever has happened to me. You are most kind and most caring, most patient and most giving. Never, ever change.Life has been good to us. Incredibly good, in fact. And even if we often worry something bad is going to happen next just like in the movies, I am confident that whatever happens we’ll be fine, we’ll be more than fine, because I know I have you and you know you have me.

 
My eyes remained fixed on him.

Jun, before I met you I was alone and focused inward. I am thankful that we met and have chosen to spend our lives together.We all need inspiration and wonder in our lives. I had no idea on that random day nearly eight years ago that you would be that person for me. Together we’ve challenged and inspired each other to do things neither of us could have imagined.Both of us have been wanderers moving from one place to another. Upon reflection it still seems like a nearly magical set of circumstances that brought such an intelligent, handsome, strong-willed and wonderfully creative man from halfway around the world to capture my heart.Jun, anyone who knows me knows my mettle and on our wedding day, Jun, I promise to do my best to be, above all, kind, loyal, patient, loving, and to do my best to avoid being overly stubborn.

I have and do look forward to every day together. There will be good days and bad days but one thing I know is that I love you more than anything in this world and hope and vow to spend the rest of my days with you.

 

Happiest Day

 

We met somewhere in the middle. I tiptoed and he leaned forward, toward me. I wrapped my hands around his head, behind his ears. He wrapped his around my back, above my waist. Then we kissed.

What followed was a tight, long embrace, a loud applause, and Elton John on strings. What followed were plenty more embraces from family and friends who travelled near and far to see us wed.

What followed was a feast. Lechon, a whole pig spit roasted with lemongrass and garlic. Paella with shrimp, squid, scallops, mussels, and clams. Paella with chanterelles, artichokes, and shelling beans. Cake and pie. Marble cake with buttercream frosting. Pumpkin caramel pie and apple pie. Wine flowed while old stories were retold and new ones were discovered.

It was one of the happiest, if not the happiest, day of my life. It was like the time we stood on a beach in South Lake Tahoe on the weekend we became domestic partners, the time when we watched the sunset and dreamed of the possibilities in store. It was like the time when Dennis presented my mother a Swarovski snowflake crystal as a memento of her first visit to California, the time when I knew I would spend the rest of my life with this kind and caring man.

“There’s a time for everyone if they only learn
That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn
There’s a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours”— Elton John and Tim Rice