11/6/08 Hello Blog Readers,
Have been meaning to update this for a while, since we forgot to put a few pictures on that people specifically requested from the wedding. So I will do that, but I’m warning you now, there is going to be some ranting at the end of this posting due to the passing of Prop 8 on Tuesday.
On the day of the wedding, my brother brought a gift from my stepmother, Maxine, who couldn’t attend. We were supposed to open it between the ceremony and the reception, but somehow the box got misplaced and we didn’t find it until the next morning. Had to laugh out loud when we opened it and found 2 baseball caps, so we wore them when we went to brunch at Chukchansi later that morning with 30 family members and friends. Here we are wearing the caps:

Another picture which I forgot to put on was a picture of our rings, requested by LaVerne Markle. So here is that picture:

The day of the wedding we were pleasantly surprised to see several of Elaine’s cousins in attendance, whom she hadn’t seen for many years. Unfortunately, we didn’t think to get a picture of the two of them and their husbands with us. But we did get a picture of them with Elaine and all her sisters, so here is the “cousins” picture.

Cousin Anne,Elaine's sisters Barb, Georgeanne, Mary, Elaine, Penny, Mary Sue, and Cousin Miggie.
One of our friends, who stood up and gave a little vignette during our “roast” at the wedding, Polly Sagasser, is an avid quilter. She made us a Crazy Quilt as a wedding present, and here is a picture of it:

We have been spending the time since the wedding catching up on post-event tasks such as sending thank you cards and e-mails, actually reading the hundreds of cards we received, making final arrangements for our cruise, participating in park events, and having some social times with RV friends who stayed past the 25th. Now we are all packed and ready to head for the Bay Area tomorrow morning. We catch our flight to Barcelona on Saturday morning and won’t arrive there until Sunday afternoon! There are stops in Minnesota and Amsterdam. Dick and Carole Schneider have a small apartment in the Gotic Quarter and have graciously offered to let us stay with them the one night we will be there before catching the ship on Monday. We are looking forward to our time with them, and also some rest time while on the ship. The ship docks in Ft. Lauderdale on Nov. 22.
Now it is time to rant about the outcome of the election on Tuesday, so if you want to stay apolitical, quit reading. Of course, we were very happy about the outcome of the presidential election, since an Obama presidency will no doubt not only help the world perceive our country in a more positive light. But also, the Democrats have always been more supportive of minority rights than the Republicans, especially more so than the Religious Right. Anyway, as the country and the world are being so ecstatic about having an African American President and the implied equal opportunity for everyone in this country, Gay rights were being pummeled in every state where there was a proposition on the ballot. It was a close race but Proposition 8 was passed in California, which bans Gay marriage. This was largely due to the fact that every church was preaching “Yes on Prop 8” from the pulpit. Our marriage is still legal, and should remain so. But now the opportunity for other Gays to marry has been eliminated except in Massachusetts and Connecticut. How is it that everyone can recognize that we shouldn’t restrict the rights of minorities such as African Americans, yet take away a right that the California Supreme Court granted Gays only in June? Why is it that the religions of the world that are supposed to be preaching love are preaching hate and bigotry? Why are heterosexuals so against Gay marriage? Are we somehow invalidating their own marriages if we can have those rituals too? What gives a portion of our population the power to deny basic rights to another portion of the population?
Currently these are the countries which allow same-sex marriage:
Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain
Additionally, these countries allow civil unions and/or registered partnerships:
Andorra, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary,Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland,
United Kingdom, Uruguay
How come some of these very Catholic, or otherwise traditional countries can be so much more “democratic” than the USA, which seems to think we have the right to preach to everyone about Democracy? I for one am sick of it, and hope that the test of Gay rights, which certainly will happen at some time in the future in our courts, will come soon. Because basically marriage is a contract between 2 people, and in our country where there is supposed to be separation of church and state, every citizen should be allowed to make this contract with another person, if they so choose.
And I am tired of people telling me that being Gay is a choice. I don’t know anyone who has chosen this lifestyle. Why would we? There is not one advantage to being Gay, and there are a lot of disadvantages. And one of the biggest disadvantages is being discriminated against by people who think they have the right to determine the values by which everyone will live. Here is a very thought provoking quote:
"Lesbians and Gays are perhaps the only minority not raised by their own people; and whose parents do not share their minority status. Like cuckoos, we spend our formative years tucked away in the homes of people who assume we are like them, who school us in traditions that will ultimately exclude us, and who teach us, quite often, to despise the people we will become.”
So although we had a very happy wedding, largely due to the love and support of our many friends and family, we are saddened by the blow that has just been handed to the Gay community in our country. We hope that soon things will change and we hope that we, and you, can be agents of that change by our openness, fairness, and compassion, as well as our determination to allow every citizen the right to choose how to live without fear of repercussion or rejection.