And then it was done

I have a daughter-in-law. I am an in-law.

The wedding is an accomplished fact, it is in the books and it is now a memory rather than an anticipation. It was fun. Really, it was fun. Was there stress? Sure. Were there some glitches along the path? Yeah. But it was exactly what it was supposed to be, what I had hoped for.

The wedding was a gathering of people who have touched Erik and Jessa's lives. Aunts and grandparents, family friends, friends they have known since they were kids, friends they came to know in the college years. It was the panorama of their lives. Cousins met cousins - friends met friends. There were even the vivid memories of family and friends who have died. Andy was there. So was Herb and Ruth.

There were words of promise and support, words of joy and longing, of releasing and receiving. And there was the Word made flesh who stood in the midst of us. It was a rite of passage. There was the honor performing the ceremony with my father, three generations all together binding two lives into one.

It wasn't about colors or food or strands of lights or flowers or any of other details that seems to take over in the weeks and days prior to the event. It was hugs and tears and words of joy and love. It was about touching and talking and laughing and crying. It was watching and remembering and hoping.

It was good. And what is more, the best is yet to come.