Teresa and Elliott

Teresa and Elliott…

Teresa and Elliott had a wonderful wedding in June. They were married at the Blue Agave Restaurant on the main street of Pleasanton, California. From my perspective, everything went exactly right. Teresa was a beautiful bride, Elliott a handsome groom. The bridesmaids and groomsmen all looked great, especially the MOH [maid of honor], Krista, who looked awesome. My responsibility was to, along with her father, escort Teresa down the front steps of the restaurant and over to where the ceremony would take place. The flower girls were the last to go before us. As we walked on the porch approaching the steps, Teresa said, “I think I’m going to cry.” I said something along the lines of not to do that, just follow the petals. By then though any attempts at stoicism were gone as both her father and I began to cry. As we walked her up to Elliott, he was crying, too. At that point Elliott was to shake her father’s hand and then give me a hug. We stepped back so Teresa could step up with Elliott. They had a special ceremony, performed by a lady who visited with them and came to know them, making the words she said meaningful and personalized. Civil engineers wear silver, pinky rings. Both Teresa and Elliott usually have theirs on. For tradition, I gave something old for Teresa to wear, which was her grandmother’s engagement ring, also a garnet (for January birthday) as Teresa’s engagement ring was. Teresa was wearing her grandmother’s ring on her pinky. At one point, only being about two feet away, I could see Elliott twisting around the pinky ring that Teresa was wearing. He glanced at it and then at her with a questioning look. She said it was her grandmother’s, and that was emotional. As a special song for the reception, Teresa and Elliott selected Ingrid Michaelson’s You Take Me the Way I Am. I was familiar with the song because at one point Elliott posted on his blog a video of Teresa lipsyncing to it. In the lyrics, the singer says that she loves the person because of the way he calls her, “Baby” and the way he says, “Good Morning.” I had asked Teresa if any of the things in the song were true of Elliott, and she said they weren’t. However, during the ceremony, Kim said that Teresa loved the way Elliott said, “Good morning” with a touch. Anyway, I really liked that part. Actually, I liked all the parts. One of the things that saddened me the most last spring when I was diagnosed with cancer was that Teresa might be having her wedding without her mother. So, it was especially sweet for me to simply be alive and experience my daughter’s wedding. The reception was excellent and provided an atmosphere in which many people who did not really know each other could enjoy and celebrate the marriage of Teresa and Elliott. At one point there was a little demonstration of breakdancing on the dance floor. Next, the two gorgeous little flower girls in their white dresses were sitting on the dance floor twirling around. Teresa said something to Kathi along the lines of that she would like to do that, too. Kathi, of course, encouraged her; and the bride joined the flower girls twirling around on their bottoms. One of the flower girls, my granddaughter Ana (age 3) summed up the long, long day with the most profound statement to Kathi…with a wistful sigh, Ana said, “I loved the wedding.” Me, too, Ana.