The photo's from their trip to India last summer. Emily's lovelier than that, but I still dig the photo. It suggests standing before the vista of the future and turning back for a moment to commemorate togetherness and include others. A metaphor for a wedding...
which will take place next summer in western Colorado on the edge of a cliff. Can't wait. Pen and I are thrilled. We'd hoped Ned might be The One ever since we first met him.
Imagine, if you will, that your kid grew up into one of the finest human beings on earth, and then fell in love with another utterly splendid person, and then they decided to get married. And you thought about it and realized that you couldn't wish for anyone or anything better to happen to your beloved child. Imagine how your heart might vault out of your chest and go skipping around the room. That's how this feels.
Just knowing such a great couple--even if one of them weren't my daughter--would be a good, positive thing. But Emily IS my daughter. And knowing her past, the pain of divorce that was a big part of her childhood, and some of the struggles and fears she's worked through as an adult, this happy news feels hugely redemptive. It's indescribable, really. Because of Emily and Ned, I have this enormous, irrational hope for the whole wide world.
Love wins after all.
8 comments:
Thanks, Daddio. It means a lot to me.
Plus, the wedding's going to be fun.
Also, I think the photo's not bad of me, considering I thought I might die 12 hours before it was taken...and I had slept in a Jeep while it drove through waterfalls and over the bumpiest excuse for a road that I ever met. And I had eaten nothing but white rice for two days, for fear of my food coming back to haunt me. And I had a high fever.....anyway.....you get the idea. For that day, the picture's pretty impressive.
You know, if you have to lose your devoted (if minuscule) blogfollowing, what better subsitute than one's own daughling darter?
I certainly didn't mean to imply that you are anything less than glorious in the photo, however much MORE glorious you may be in life. I'm sure I read into the picture what I knew you'd been through on the trip.
The main thing is, I love ya, kid.
Adorable. And once again you've given me valuable insight into having kids a few steps ahead of mine.
Daniel, my brother, I am older than you. Do I still feel the pain? I sure as hell do.
But I hear the pain is being well-distributed over there in Humor. Morale seems exceptionally low.
What should be done, I wonder? Or is it a systemic thing that only early retirement can solve?
It's a sad state of affairs when I hear that morale is low in humor. That sounds like a miracle of the bad variety. Is that what a debacle is? A bad miracle?
A good miracle is Emily and Ned. The fact of them as individuals, and the miracle of them as a couple. Bravo. And also yippee!
Awww...they're so cute!
I"ve watched this video a dozen times, and each time my love and admiration for Emily and Ned grows and grows. My wife of fifty-four+ years' marriage and I will let nothing keep us from being there on June 21, 2008 on the edge of that canyon, to see and participate in their Great Adventure of a lifetime together. Emily was our first grandchild, and now Ned is our most recent one--he's THE ONE for Emily, and she's THE ONE for him. Together they'll be the Salt of the Earth, even if the rest of the Earth's salt loses its savor!
daddy-0
This is so sweet! My daughter is also getting married this year in one of the Chicago wedding venues. I am going to be her wedding planner and I am very excited for the day. She is marrying the love of her life who is also her childhood best friend.
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