Survived Dad’s big day. All in all, I have to say it was nice and actually kind of laid back. The time went very quickly. When I woke up on Sat. morning and was heading down the stairs, Amy met me at the steps to ask me the worst thing that could happen today. My response was to ask if the van was broken down. Nope. The 3 y.o. woke up puking and had gotten a few more sessions in. Needless to say the trip was interesting because I was on bucket duty while Amy drove. Luckily, Ella fell asleep around the state line and slept until we arrived in Okabena. She did okay after that until about 30 minutes before the service. She started to cough. I grabbed her and ran he down a ramp, trying to get her out the door there (the other door was blocked by people coming in who I’m guessing did not want vomit on their clothes). Got to the door and discovered it was locked. Not only that, but there was an elderly lady on the other side, knocking and telling me to unlock it. The woman was apparently oblivious to the fact that we had a sick girl because she kept on knocking, even as Ella was redecorating part of the carpet with some regurgitated cheese from the meat and cheese tray Dad and Joan had gotten for everyone to snack on. Yep, a lovely puke with tiny little bits of cheese that ended up needing a vacuum to get up. The lady kept on knocking and telling us to open the door. I told Amy later that I should have gone Jack Bauer on her and started yelling at HER to open the door repeatedly. Would have definitely been entertaining. Ella did continue to throw up – puking during the service (Amy got her to the bathroom) and she got sick in Mankato right before we went to bed. There was some thinking that since Ella has a resemblance to Mom and has Mom’s name as her middle name, that the puking was Mom’s comment about the whole thing. Of course, Mom hated puking and never would subject any of her grandkids to that. I also believe she would be happy to know that Dad is happy.

I got to meet Joan’s kids for the first time. I guess they are now my step-siblings. Wow. That is weird. I think I will likely continue to refer to them as “Joan’s kids” and not as my step-brother or step-sister. I have no plans to call Joan my step-mother. She is my father’s wife

Mom’s brother’s both made it with their wives. I was SHOCKED to see them. I was convinced that I’d probably not see them again after Pat’s funeral. I was also very happy to see my Uncle Rich there along with a large contingent of cousins. Dad’s sisters and their husbands were there (which was totally expected). I was probably the most jazzed (do people really even say that anymore) to see Eric. Been a few years. Not much time to catch up, but he and his S.O. seem to be doing well. Also got to see his parents, who have been like a second set of parents to me at times.

As I said it was kind of laid back. I don’t think anyone really knew what they were to do or when they were to do it. I was a bit taken aback that Mark was the best man. Understand it, but I thought he and I were going to be sharing that, but whatever. I know that Mark is not much for public speaking, so I took it on myself to prepare the toast. Here it is:

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. For those that don’t already know me, my name is Cory. I am Myron’s youngest son. Thank you all for being here today to celebrate this special day with Dad and Joan. I’d like to express my congratulations to Dad and Joan. I know they will have a wonderful future together, and I thank them for allowing me to be a part of this special day and a part of their lives. Please stand and join me in a toast to the happy couple.

May your joys be as bright as the morning,
your years of happiness
as numerous as the stars in the heavens,
and your troubles but shadows
that fade in the sunlight of love


I’d love to say the reaction to the toast was mixed. I’d love to say there was a reaction at all. Ah well, felt it needed to be done.

There were a few things that went wrong. For one, the bride ended up showing up around 30 minutes late for pictures. That meant that some of the photos she wanted did not happen. Also had an issue in that the organ was not working. Both Joan and Dad took things in stride. We had fun with getting some pictures taken, got some family pictures and some pics. with Mark. One of the funniest things was Mark trying to get Dad’s part of the unity candle lit. We were facing forward and just could hear him repeatedly trying to get the match lit. I think it was attempt 3 that got me giggling.

The pastor – oh, the pastor – think of a mix between Rev. Lovejoy and Christopher Walken. I guess this was his something like his fifth wedding ever. He did this whole thing during the sermon about marriage being for procreation. Yeah, perfect topic for this couple surrounded by their grown children and grandchildren. Dad said the pastor had some sort of panic attack the night before and was put on morphine. Mark did note that the pastor’s eyes were dilated. I noticed during the reception that he was looking at one of the little bells on the table as though he had never ever seen a bell before in his life. Oh, he was also in and out of a wheelchair. Something about a back injury? Yeah, one weird dude.

Probably the coolest thing about the whole day is getting to see so many family and friends and know that we were there for a happy day. It has been so many funerals, that it was nice to be together without a death. I got to see my mom’s brothers together again (never thought I’d see that), even hugging before they departed. I was very proud of them for manning up and being there to share in Dad’s happy day.

After the reception (highlight there: Chandler (told to by Mark) ringing the bell after Dad took a big bite of food), we went to Joan and Dad’s house and hung out for a bit in the back yard. Uncle Rich commented as he was leaving that Dad’s marriage was a part of the healing from the loss of a spouse and it was good to see that. It definitely gave me a different perspective.

After a couple hours, we headed out to Mankato. Amy wanted to get a visit in this summer, in part because we don’t know how much time her grandparents have left. We did get a chance to see them and visit a bit.