[Magdalen] Anniversary

[Jay Weigel]

A very  happy anniversary to you and Alex, with many more to come! Muchos
felices!

On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 3:56 PM Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> >
>