About Bloody TIme!

First follower: And will the veil of the temple be rent in twain?
Cult Leader: Well the veil of the temple is always dodgy.
The End is Nigh - Beyond the Fringe

Laurent and I will be exchanging our wedding vows at 1545 this afternoon in our friend Joelle's garden. And despite the warnings of various religious groups we hope that the veil of the temple will remain unrent and the family unit as we know it will not dissolve. That is not our intention - our intention is to consecrate our loving relationship of the past 29 years.

We decided that at this point we probably won't find anyone else to put up with us so why not make it legal. To be honest our original thoughts behind this step were based on legal and financial reasons; however as planning progressed the event has taken on a deeper meaning. We realize now that we are making a serious, spiritual commitment in the eyes of God, our family and our friends.

Many of our friends have sent good wishes via e-mail, snail-mail, blog comments and postings, flowers and telephone calls. It has been touching and both of us have found ourselves tearing up at the odd moment. A few have asked questions about the ceremony and a few have made lewd suggestions not appropriate to such a solemn occasion. So I thought I would post answers to some of them.

• The ceremony will be held in Joelle's garden - thank god its sunny and warm. Her son, our adopted nephew Andrew, suggested a lovely, shaded area surrounded by hedges - a perfect circle.


• We are a small group - Joelle, Blake - our oldest friend in Ottawa, our best friends Rick and John - who will be our witnesses, my niece Stephanie and Elaine, the Chaplain, make up the human contingent. The rest of the animal kingdom will be represented by our Reesie and Joelle's Riley, Tugger, the cat and two ferrets.


• Yes Reese will be there but not as a ring bearer, as evilganome suggested being a daschie he would probably eat the rings.


• The service is a short Unitarian ceremony Elaine, Laurent and I created and includes much from the Book of Common Prayer. Elaine is the daughter of a former colleague at Air Canada and her father was my Director at Transport Canada - the world is small.


• Our rings are the puzzle rings we bought in the Khan in Cairo in 1989 and have worn ever since. Laurent's is gold and mine is silver. They cleaned up real nice.


• Rick is reading the traditional passage from St Paul's letter to the Corinthians however as much as I love the language of the King James version the translation of caritas as charity rather than love has always bothered me so he will be reading a modern translation.


• Though we are not having flowers as such - no bouquets etc - we are bringing a beautiful arrangement Deb and James sent us from England and exquisite roses given to us by Molly and Dave over to adorn the table for the champagne after.


• We are having a small wedding cake after the service with champagne sent to us by Deb and James, Maria and Gordon and my colleagues at Transport Canada.


• There will be a small wedding supper at a local Bistro later this evening.


• And yes I did see my intended after midnight last night and in his usual spot - pillow on the right side.

At the beginning of the ceremony Laurent and I will be lighting a candle together. That candle is meant to represent our friends, family and colleagues who cannot be with us. To all of you who have sent us wishes in one form or another - you are part of that flame and you are very much with us in our hearts as we exchange our vows and make our commitment.