8 years ago tonight...
...was our rehearsal dinner. (Yes, our anniversary is tomorrow, although I'm leaving for Beijing so it won't exactly be a major celebration.)
Anyway, so 8 years ago tonight we were in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin, preparing for the Big Day. Since we had lots of friends in town and Gretchen's parents loved to entertain, we decided that rather than having our rehearsal dinner in a hotel banquet room or at a country club, we would instead invite all of our out-of-town friends over to her family's house for a good Wisconsin-style party: grilled bratwurst, a keg of local beer, pitchers of her Dad's old-fashioneds, and ice cream from the UW Dairy Store. A good time seemed to be had by all (which we know in part because some friends told us later that they didn't actually remember much of the evening). Our memories are even fonder in retrospect because Gretchen's Dad was having such a good time hosting, and we only found out later that he was losing his eyesight but didn't want to let it spoil his good time--in a lot of ways it was one of the last times we saw him in top form before he got so sick. Our parents all seemed happy, come to think of it.
As the night came to a close with me smoking cigars on the deck with friends, we bade each other good night knowing the next time we saw each other would be when the door was opened the next afternoon for her to walk down the aisle. We spent the remaining time before our nuptials in our own usual ways--Gretchen hanging out with her girlfriends and eating a big lunch while getting ready, and me mostly spending time alone with my thoughts and feeling too sick to even eat a bite of toast (despite Gretchen asking friends to make sure I ate). But we got through the ceremony without a hitch despite it being unseasonably warm and damp (not a good combination when you haven't eaten all day) and the pastor getting my name wrong during the vows, and danced the night away at the reception. Even the Padres losing the first game of the World Series to the Yankees that night couldn't put a damper on the party.
And now, 8 years later, here we are living overseas with a 16-week old baby--who could have known the twists and turns our lives would take?! But it's been a great 8 years, and while I wish I didn't have to spend our anniversary night on a red-eye flight, I'll at least raise my glass to Gretchen at 30,000 feet and think happily about the good times to come before reclining my seat, slipping on eyeshades and my iPod and trying to catch a couple of hours of sleep!
(Sorry no wedding pictures, but those were our pre-digital days and we don't have a scanner...)
Anyway, so 8 years ago tonight we were in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin, preparing for the Big Day. Since we had lots of friends in town and Gretchen's parents loved to entertain, we decided that rather than having our rehearsal dinner in a hotel banquet room or at a country club, we would instead invite all of our out-of-town friends over to her family's house for a good Wisconsin-style party: grilled bratwurst, a keg of local beer, pitchers of her Dad's old-fashioneds, and ice cream from the UW Dairy Store. A good time seemed to be had by all (which we know in part because some friends told us later that they didn't actually remember much of the evening). Our memories are even fonder in retrospect because Gretchen's Dad was having such a good time hosting, and we only found out later that he was losing his eyesight but didn't want to let it spoil his good time--in a lot of ways it was one of the last times we saw him in top form before he got so sick. Our parents all seemed happy, come to think of it.
As the night came to a close with me smoking cigars on the deck with friends, we bade each other good night knowing the next time we saw each other would be when the door was opened the next afternoon for her to walk down the aisle. We spent the remaining time before our nuptials in our own usual ways--Gretchen hanging out with her girlfriends and eating a big lunch while getting ready, and me mostly spending time alone with my thoughts and feeling too sick to even eat a bite of toast (despite Gretchen asking friends to make sure I ate). But we got through the ceremony without a hitch despite it being unseasonably warm and damp (not a good combination when you haven't eaten all day) and the pastor getting my name wrong during the vows, and danced the night away at the reception. Even the Padres losing the first game of the World Series to the Yankees that night couldn't put a damper on the party.
And now, 8 years later, here we are living overseas with a 16-week old baby--who could have known the twists and turns our lives would take?! But it's been a great 8 years, and while I wish I didn't have to spend our anniversary night on a red-eye flight, I'll at least raise my glass to Gretchen at 30,000 feet and think happily about the good times to come before reclining my seat, slipping on eyeshades and my iPod and trying to catch a couple of hours of sleep!
(Sorry no wedding pictures, but those were our pre-digital days and we don't have a scanner...)
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