Wild Horses, Without A Doubt

Ramon more or less just appeared in my office yesterday, grinning in a way that made the Cheshire Cat appear stoic. He dropped a gold envelope on my desk, my name scrawled across the front (spelling butchered but that's my parent's fault for not being more user-friendly, grammatically speaking).

"You're kidding!"

"Open it."

Expecting to find an official announcement, I found instead an invitation. May thirtieth, at three.

And there they were in a series of photos on the tri-fold invitation, Tia's unbelievably green eyes beaming like spotlights, Ramon ever the Cheshire Cat with gaze never leaving her. If true love could be printed on card stock, I was holding it in my hands right then.

It was everything I'd ever hoped for both of them, two of the most genuine people I have ever known.

In general terms, I have little problem expressing myself but caught as I was right then in realizing how hard they'd both worked to make the day happen at all and affording the wedding that would be small but still all they wanted, I was overwhelmed and completely caught by surprise to be holding an invitation.

"I'm so happy for you!" was the best I could manage. "And I'll be there."

I pulled my calendar from the credenza and marked the date. With a Sharpie. Because they're permanent.

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away."

I am looking forward to May thirtieth, never mind attending weddings isn't always my favorite thing to do. For some unfathomable reason I inevitably find myself tearing up during the ceremony, although they're not sad events and I'm not sad to be there. Getting married is a huge undertaking. I've wondered, at many weddings, if the bride and groom had any real idea of what they were signing on for.

Once all the hoopla ended, did they understand it took a lot of work?

I thought about that when Eileen was married in New York after three days of catered pre-parties and a motorcade for the wedding party through Central Park.

I thought about it when Dale married Karin in Cheyenne, Wyoming, all ten groomsmen and maids of honor navigating the aisle on horseback, in boots, cowboy hats and dark sunglasses which were ceremoniously tossed in the air at the end, where the couple was pronounced man and wife.

I wondered when James Easter married Sundae Poling in Tucson. Did she realize the ramifications of taking that particular last name?

I didn't wonder with Ramon and Tia, having known them through work for the past seven years. I'd seen them evolve and grow up together and have to admit I've rarely seen that depth of commitment but was never surprised by it. No two people worked harder at their jobs and at preserving their relationship.

So I'll be very happily in attendance for the wedding, just remain unsure what to choose as their wedding gift. Ramon and Tia are not registered anywhere, finding that whole idea, 'kind of silly, right?'. I'd felt the same way in 1991. Explained why through some of my ex-husband's more practical minded friends, we received not one but two, dartboards and cabinets.

The wedding gift, I'll have to think about.

The wedding I'm simply excited for. It's not every day you're invited to see the official beginning of something you know without doubt will truly last forever.