[Magdalen] Anniversary

[Ginga Wilder]

Happy 5th Anniversary, Rick, to you and Alex!!  Wishes for many more.

Ginga

On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 2:47 PM Rick Mashburn <ricklmashburn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm friends with a lot of you on Facebook so y'all will already know this.
> Today is our 5-year wedding anniversary. We drove to Santa Fe that May with
> very little idea of what we were actually going to do. Gay marriage wasn't
> legal in Texas at that point and we needed to get Alex's green card
> application in the works so we decided not to wait for the Supreme Court
> ruling expected in the Summer.
>
> We got into town earlier than expected, so we decided to swing by City Hall
> and get our marriage license. Being from Texas, we weren't certain what to
> expect from the office where we were to apply. But, when we told the clerk
> at the desk what we wanted, everyone in the office came over and shook
> hands with both us and congratulated us on the news.
>
> We were staying in a charming B&B not far from downtown and the Cathedral
> Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. During breakfast the owner stopped at
> our table to chat with us. When we told her we were planning to get married
> in one of the city courts, she begged us to wait and have the ceremony that
> afternoon in the courtyard at the Inn. She even recruited one of her
> friends to be our officiant.
>
> The courtyard has just been cleaned up from the last snow of the season
> with freshly planted flowers everywhere. The air was crisp and clean and
> there was not a cloud in the sky. The officiant was attired in full Santa
> Fe regalia - embroidered cowboy boots and lots of silver, turquoise and
> fringe. She was wonderful! We had a lovely ceremony with Buddhist chimes, a
> water goblet we both drank from before returning the remaining water to the
> earth and traditional vows. Just as she pronounced us married, the bells at
> the Cathedral starting ringing. It still gives me goose bumps to think
> about how perfect it was - a magical day!
>
> On the drive back to San Antonio, we talked about how wonderful is was and
> how glad we were that we chose to get married this way. But, that it didn't
> feel complete. So we started planning our church service here. I was
> thrilled (and a little worried) about being the first same-sex couple to
> have their marriage openly blessed in an Episcopal Church here but if there
> was any controversy, I didn't hear about it. We translated the service into
> Spanish and printed a bilingual Service Booklet. Alex's parents read the
> Prayers of the People and friends read the lessons. Our families got along
> famously -- both at the dinner the night before and at the reception in the
> Parish Hall after the service. It was blessed weekend!
>
> The five years since have been mostly awesome. Good times and bad, of
> course, but it's the best decision I've made in my life. I love being
> married. I was concerned that we didn't know enough about what we were
> doing: I was 55 and Alex was 29, it was the first long-term relationship
> for either one of us, different cultural backgrounds (he's from
> Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) and more. But, it's worked out really well
> and I am grateful to be so abundantly blessed. And, we've been home
> together 24/7 since the first week in March and we're both still alive!
>
> Thanks be to God!
>
> Peace, Rick
> 210-618-5096
>