Today’s blog, from the road
Lynn Murphy Mark
Extravaganza
The big celebration is today, this afternoon from 2 to 4. One hundred, or so, will be gathering to congratulate Sheila and Barrett on their recent marriage. There was even a planning committee who took charge so that the two Mrs.’s could simply show up and enjoy friends and family.
The venue will be gorgeous. Barrett volunteers at one of the museums on Museum Hill in Santa Fe. There is a large space for parties, in addition to the possibility of browsing through the collections themselves. There will be food, and music, and laughter. Sheila used some newly gained skills to make a movie of the event that will run continuously for all to experience the actual wedding.
The wedding took place on a sailboat in the harbor of Camden, Maine, in August of this year. Sheila’s brother was the videographer. A couple of good friends also came along to witness the event. I remember that day. Someone kept texting still pictures and short videos of the wedding ceremony. What I was stunned by was the absolute pure joy that reflected from Sheila and Barrett. They could barely contain their smiles, looking like two kids set loose in a candy store.
New Mexico instituted gay marriage on December 19, 2013. I remember coming home from work and finding Jan in tears, holding a copy of the newspaper with the headline. She grew up closeted from her family and her workplace and has experienced the social isolation in this country where all things are not equal. That this sacrament was now available to us was more than she could handle emotionally on that December day.
I can’t rest comfortably in the knowledge that gay marriage is legal now. There are plenty of people who would like to have this right reversed, just as SCOTUS did with Roe v. Wade. Our right to celebrate a union may well be featured in some MAGA strategic plan to undo this civil liberty. If “they” can’t keep their hands off of women’s bodies, what’s to say “they” won’t go all out to interfere in the kind of love “they” will never understand.
But today is all about acknowledging a sacred union. There will be four of us saying toasts to the happy couple. I wrote mine down because I don’t trust myself not to ramble off script and end up telling some funny stories about Sheila. I don’t know Barrett as well, but I am so happy to be among her friends. I don’t know how many of the invited guests I will be acquainted with, but I so look forward to seeing the tribe of women that I got to know when I lived here. These women come together in times of joy and episodes of sorrow to uplift one another and to do what needs to be done for each other. In my opinion, we should all take a lesson from their commitment to the undeniable benefit of friendship and love.
It’s six in the morning. I woke up at five, excited that this day has arrived. Patti showed me how to get coffee started, so I am enjoying my first cup of Joe. The house is very quiet except for a persistent cricket serenading me and Annie Dog. I am looking forward to connecting with friends this afternoon as we gather to honor and acclaim Sheila and Barrett’s wedding. The definition of “acclaim” is: “To welcome or salute with shouts or sounds of joy and approval!”
Hip Hip Hooray!!!