Sweet Sunshine In August

Everyone took their seats as the ceremony was about to begin. The bride, in her yellow dress of lace, waited at the end of the aisle just out of everyone's view with her brother by her side to accompany her down the aisle. A moment later, she heard her cue--the double bass at the front began to pluck out his line, and in a second he was joined by the saxophone in their jazzy rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". As the musicians played, the groom in his bright yellow shirt smiled and watched his brother-in-law walk the bride down the aisle towards him to the beat of the song. Just as they reached the front, the bride was twirled around once before her hand was passed to the groom, who took her into his arms and together, they danced to their song. They continued to dance even as the Justice began his speech, just as if no one else was there; their matching colours like a bright ray of sunshine in the middle of the room.

My aunt and uncle got married today yesterday. They had actually been together for twenty-five years already, but they finally decided to make it official. You could tell that the officiality of a certificate, ceremony, or celebration didn't really make a difference to them--they were as much in love today as they were twenty-five years ago. You know when everyone taps their cutlery against their glasses in order to make that tinkling noise to get the bride and groom to kiss? Well, the first time that happened at the reception, my uncle stood up as my aunt took his hand and she did a spin into his arms before he dipped her back in order to kiss her--that's love for you.

They told everyone that it was going to be a simple wedding and to come casually--after twenty-five years, they gave only two weeks of notice to their guests. Nobody seemed to mind though as everyone mingled and laughed and took turns inspecting the gigantic family tree that the bride and groom had prepared for their guests to insert their own pictures into.

The Justice of the Peace who ordained the wedding had spent some time getting to know the couple before helping they exchange their vows; his speech as they danced reflected that.
    "The bride and groom discovered early on that they both had a love for traveling. One of their expeditions found them camping in Kenya where a male Kenyan native came upon them and after taking a moment to look the bride over, promptly offered the groom five goats in order to have her for himself. The groom steeled himself and took a stand, announcing it would take seven goats to part him from the bride."
Still dancing to the jazz with my aunt at the front, my uncle admitted with a shrug that the story was true.

The rings that my aunt and uncle exchanged also had a long history that the Justice revealed to us.
    "The groom's mother passed on some time ago, and after she did, the groom's father insisted that their wedding bands be kept together as a pair. The rings will continue to exist as a pair as they are being exchanged today by the new couple as symbols of their marriage."
The touching part was that the groom's father, over seventy years old, stood and got out of his wheelchair in order to hand the rings to his son.

So many sweet things happened that night that I'm not including that just made the whole room glow of love. Things like the reunion of a long distanced family; like the speech my uncle's father made to his son; like the vows my aunt and uncle exchanged with each other; like the heart shaped fruits; like the sunshine through the yacht club windows. Maybe because it was a wedding and maybe because I'm a girl I got all mushy everything, but if I ever wondered about whether or not love could last a lifetime, I stopped wondering about it that night.