wow – linoleum block prints of gannets. who’d a thunk they’d be so amazing and special…
I knew Marnie was making her thank you cards for the wedding gifts she and Tom received. So I knew they’d be way cooler than anything I would’ve ever thought of. Sure enough, my card arrived today. And this concludes the wedding posts!
even the BACK of the envelope is cool
remember the papier mache gannets she hung from the tent rafters? here they are again.
lovely graceful words on the right, out of sight, but look at her drawings of the dress and the shawl. she's always done this.
She specializes in artist’s books, letterpress, and hand-carved woodblock and linoleum prints. Her favorite is the artist’s book, I think. But if you like her style, she has an etsy shop – MonkeyRope Press. There might be a little gift for anyone who gets the reference in her store’s name. I’m just saying. Support artists! I know I’m preaching to the choir, with this crowd, but still.
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dancing in the dark.
My sweet older daughter Katie got married in June 2008 (easiest anniversary ever to remember: 06/07/08). Hers was a much more traditional wedding than Marnie’s, complete with puffy white dress, groomsmen in tuxedos, rosebud corsages, and all that happy jazz. She hired a professional photographer, who caught this very enigmatic shot that I rediscovered yesterday while wandering through her online photo album:
me dancing with my son
Several things to note, before turning attention to the odd glance:
1- That’s my daughter Katie, dancing with her husband Trey, in the right side of the photo
2 – That’s Marnie visible in the back, in the green maid-of-honor dress
3 – Yes, that’s right, I’m wearing the same dress at Katie’s wedding as I wore at Marnie’s. First, both girls crazily decided to have OUTDOOR weddings in the HOT SUMMER, so something extremely cool was called for. And second, I bought it specifically to wear to Katie’s wedding, and when Marnie’s came up I decided to call it my “dress I wear to my daughters’ weddings.” I’ll have to keep it safely aside to wear in the future when my youngest girl gets married, which will probably be several years, since she’s a sophomore in college.
It’s a very long story with my beloved son – lots of very long stories with him, to be more accurate – so I know everything that lives behind that glance, behind my close hold on him. I store the photo here so I don’t forget about it again.
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in which we jump for joy
I promise I’m not going to keep going on and on about this, but a photo came in from my daughter Katie’s collection and it’s really how I wanted to end my wedding posting – it says it all. Thank you Katie!
And a couple of Marnie dancing with her parents:
Marnie dances with her dad - this is SO them
Marnie and me, doing our private dance to our song
I hope seeing the pictures makes you feel — even a little bit — some of the joy.
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the last of the wedding details
What an emotional and wonderful experience the last several days has been. It’s really one of the highlights of life, when a child gets married. Marnie’s and Tom’s wedding was really beautiful. (here’s a link to the flickr set, with a growing number of photos)
Late afternoon:
me, writing notes for my toast. They put me last because they (rightly) knew that my speech would be the most emotional.
A silent auction of some of Marnie's prints, to benefit the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)'s support of gay marriage
Tom's friend Gwendolyn did Marnie's hair and makeup
FINALLY! It’s 7pm, time to head down to the prairie, where the ceremony will be held.
we all walked through the forest, past the sugar shack, to get to the prairie where we waited for Tom and Marnie to appear.
and here they come! We all broke out into applause when they appeared. Tom's niece Ella had gathered a bunch of prairie wildflowers for Marnie to carry, at the last minute.
This is SO THEM. Even in this moment, there was a lot of laughter.
married! Joe just pronounced them married, after the most beautiful ceremony and vows. And there was much applause, laughter, tears, and joy.
Then we all returned to the Lodge, for a wonderful dinner catered by a local restaurant. They don’t do catering – they just did this for Marnie and Tom. They bought all local ingredients for the menu, purchased the morning of the wedding.
Marnie watches Tom order his food - I love her gaze at him
a moment's pause. I think she looks so beautiful, even in this thoughtful moment.
Night fell as we were eating dinner, and then we had the speeches and toasts. Without exception, everyone talked about how much Marnie and Tom laugh together, how absolutely right they are for each other, and how much they mean to us all. Marnie and Tom had their dance, then Marnie had selected a song to dance with her dad, and then there was our song, one that has enormous meaning for Marnie and me – L.O.V.E., by Nat King Cole. It’s a long story …. but you can bet I cried throughout the whole thing.
the tent, lit up with little bits of starlight and a lot of joy
Marnie's gannetts hanging from the tent rafters
FLYING HOME SUNDAY
Only because I had to, I flew out on Delta. I hate Delta. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever taken an uneventful Delta flight; I’m sure it would be memorable if I ever had a Delta flight that was uneventful because it would be the only such experience. I flew from Madison to Detroit, where I had to change planes (with a 1-hour layover), for the flight home to LaGuardia. Like all my other flights on this roundtrip, I got to the airport to find that the flight to Detroit was delayed by one hour. There were no other flights that would get me home that day, no matter how I arranged it. So I just had to hope for the best.
While we were in the air, someone – one of pilots, we think – came on and said this: “Sorry we got a late start, and we know most of you are worried about making your connections. But look! Look outside, it’s a beautiful day! It’s still a beautiful day to be flying!” And so on. Mr. Mindfulness, trying to reorient us. It made me laugh.
So I got to Detroit, the connecting flight knew there were 19 of us on the now-late plane, so we ran off the plane, raced down the terminal, and raced onto the very VERY hot plane. And then I sat. And I sat. And I sweated in the heat, and I waited. An announcement was made that we’re waiting on the pilot, who was coming in on another flight that had been delayed. Later, an announcement: the pilot has just landed! We should be taking off in about 5-10 minutes! Later, another announcement: “Hi, I’m your new pilot with the replacement team. We have no idea what happened to the other flight crew. We should be taking off shortly.”
SO DELTA. I did finally land, only to face incredibly bad traffic. I got home considerably later than I dreamed I would. But I got a lot of knitting done; finished my Wowie Zowie socks, and got a great start on Peasy.
fantastic socks, taken against a backdrop of your standard Best Western bedspread.
Peasy! Easy! Fun!
the bit of lace on the front panels
And now, I begin my new life as (a) the mother of 2 married daughters, and (b) a freelancer. I’m finishing up the unpacking/straightening up details, finishing a lot of paperwork, and then I start my new life scrambling for work. Know anyone who needs (1) a manuscript developed, (2) a good writer, (3) a market research consultant, (4) a survey designer and programmer, or (5) a data analyst? If so, send them my way!
Thanks again for all your very lovely best wishes, they meant a lot to me.
More later today – for now, this photo and a word to you wonderful people who leave comments. I have to say that your comments have been so lovely, I honestly did feel your caring presence with me! Kate, Kty, Jocelyn, Kelly, Gail, Tammy, Jocelyn, Laura, Pip, Anne, gibknitty, Andrea, Kelli, thank you for sharing one of the best moments of my life with me.
More later today – for now, this photo and a word to you wonderful people who leave comments. I have to say that your comments have been so lovely, I honestly did feel your caring presence with me! Kate, Kty, Jocelyn, Kelly, Gail, Tammy, Jocelyn, Laura, Pip, Anne, gibknitty, Andrea, Kelli, thank you for sharing one of the best moments of my life with me.
July 17, 2010
wedding-eve happiness.
This is the detail that transformed this wedding from a great wedding to a great wedding with a hilarious story. Coleman, the owner of Maplewood Lodge, wrote Marnie on Wednesday and told her that the Lodge would still be great for the wedding, but there were baby bats in the Lodge (it’s a bumper bat season, apparently) and the bat removal guy kind of disappeared, so they should not sleep at the Lodge. Coleman rented a number of hotel rooms at his own expense for Marnie and Tom and a couple of their guests who might have been planning to sleep in the Lodge.
Well. As you can imagine, Marnie was kind of crushed. She didn’t want to spend her wedding night at the Super 8 (or wherever…any place would be a letdown compared to the gorgeous Lodge). Coleman spent the night there Tuesday night, just checking, and sure enough, around 4am, a little bat flew within inches of his face.
Instead of the hotel, when we arrived Coleman said that he’d rented a house in town – a very old house, huge, just for them. At his expense. Well, that’s very sweet, right?! So we went over there last night and *cue the organ* (which happened to be in the living room) it was ca-reep-y. Like, very very VERY creepy. It had that very old grandmother smell (not the rosewater or talcum powder smell), and I just expected Norman Bates’ mother to be in that top bedroom at the top of the stairs. There were random stairwells in random odd places, going up and down. There was a full scary basement – empty, except for a small child’s wooden WHEELCHAIR. I was totally creeped out, but Tom and Marnie and I stayed there last night. During my hot and sleepless night, I was sure I kept hearing music, but I think it was my imagination.
Tonight Marnie and Tom are just going to take their chances with the bats.
We got to the Lodge this morning and started the decorating. I sewed the buttons on Marnie’s dress after doing the final fitting….it’s really beautiful on her, the dress. Really. I can’t wait to see it on her tomorrow evening.
the tent, pre-decorating
Marnie and her little twinkly lights
Marnie & Tom, Katie & Trey, setting things up
For weeks, Marnie sewed these muslin banners. There are ~52 of them, each approximately 5 feet long. I threaded a length of heavy twine through the top of each one, so they can be hung from the rafters of the tent, along with the twinkly lights.
this is a LOT of muslin, i'm telling you
When I left, the kids were finishing up hanging the banners; they’d hung the lights; they painted the table numbers on the mason jars, which they’ll fill with wild flowers tomorrow. We’ll all gather tomorrow morning and spend the day together, hanging out, playing games – bocce ball, croquet, tether ball, volleyball, kickball maybe, frisbee, board games, a little hammock-lying-about, a bit of swinging, some forest-wandering, and a lot of talking. Around 4:30 or so, Tom and Marnie will head into the Lodge to get ready, and around 5:30 or so we’ll gather for photos. Then we’ll all walk over to the prairie — pip, yes, it’s something like a huge meadow, filled with flowers — for the wedding ceremony.
Then a wonderful dinner under the tent, speeches of love about family and these great kids, a bit of dancing under the stars, some marshmallow-roasting over the firepit, and the end of a happy, happy day.
There are moments where it’s all worth it. Where everything that led up to it, all worth it. All the hard stuff forgotten, the tough spots valued and let go of, the love and cherishing at the front of your mind, and you know. It’s all been worth every second.
Marnie and Tom! Maplewood Lodge!
It’s my first time in Wisconsin; my almost-son-in-law said that when you cross the border, you see signs for cheese and porn. The porn signs that we saw were a bit hidden away (they’d come in on a different highway before, and said the signs were plentiful) but we did see cheese signs. Of course.
cheese and fireworks! a natural combination!
Let me go back a little bit. I flew into Chicago, and coincidentally arrived at O’Hare at the same time my older daughter Katie and her husband Trey arrived from Austin – that was a surprise treat. So we met up, got a car and drove to Marnie’s house where we met Tom’s (the groom’s) sister and her family. Then Joe arrived, their friend who is going to be their officiant, and the wedding paperwork was signed.
top to bottom: Joe, Tom, and Marnie (wearing her wedding shawl, even though it was sweltering hot!)
yay! It's all signed! Marnie is happy and Katie is clapping.
Then we all trekked through the sweltering neighborhood to the kids’ favorite restaurant for brunch. Unfortunately, the air conditioning had died in the restaurant. We ate there, anyway.
that little charmer is Liam, and his sister Ella hides behind him.
Then a sweltering walk to the Lake Michigan shore, then a sweltering walk back to Marnie’s and Tom’s place, then we loaded up the cars and drove to Wisconsin, to the cabin.
Marnie and Tom
Maplewood Lodge
(If you look back at this post you’ll see how well Marnie captured the lodge in her wedding invitation print!)
wild and beautiful
it's just gorgeous
a bit of lawn, a grill, a picnic table, and an abundance of wild flowers and birds
they can sit here in the mornings and watch the morning come up
look at the lodge kitchen! what a great old stove at the end
Marnie just found a tick on her bicep, and I think that’s probably a harbinger of things to come. The location is absolutely wild and beautiful, and full of bugs and birds and bats and probably other things that start with other letters of the alphabet. The actual wedding is going to be in the prairie behind the lodge; there are gorgeous walkways through the forested area, a fire pit (where there will be s’mores made by the dozens, I imagine), and lots more to see. Today we’re going to be setting everything up, hanging lights, doing all kinds of things to prepare for tomorrow’s happy event. Marnie and Tom get married.
Marnie just narrated the events so far: Day 1, BATS! Day 2, TICKS! 
leaving for the wedding – see you later!
OK! The time has come (the walrus said) – I’m shutting down the computer so I can pack it up. I’ll catch a cab at 5am to head out to Chicago, and then we’ll all caravan out to the wedding site in SW WI.I can’t wait….and I can’t wait to show you some pictures. See you in a few days!
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