Thankful Thursday

So, today is our 9th Wedding Anniversary. Nine years ago today, we had a Ceremony of Commitment/Wedding. Who knew that we were such revolutionaries?! There are LGBT people getting married all over the place now, and we did it before it was a fad. Yay us!

But let me tell you, I wasn't sure about it for a long time. Up until the week before the wedding I was wearing a white suit! Then, I finally realized that I was denying myself what I really wanted...to wear a real wedding dress. And, from the photo you will see that I did, indeed, wear a real wedding dress.

My experience at David's Bridal was less than satisfactory. I went to the one closest to us, and found a dress that I wore off the rack. I'm not a big fan of that last minute alterations malarky that makes every bride into bridezilla. But when I went to try on the dress, I went with a friend of mine (also a 'friend of Dorothy') because - quite honestly - I was scared of the straight people in that store. I was scared of how I'd be treated. I didn't get to try on the dress and have people ooh and ahh and talk about my husband-to-be and what did he do for a living and how will I wear my hair. Instead when the question of what does he do came up, I said "She is in Information Technology, I.T." Then a look of puzzlement, and another question, "So, do you want to try on that gown?" I was horrified, but I'd steeled myself for the experience...don't we all do this on a regular basis when going into worlds where we aren't expected for whatever reason?

Anyway, I tried it on and my friend -- bless her heart -- oohed and ahhed for me. She was wonderful. As you can see I actually wore it too! I can remember getting ready and my sister buttoning all of the g'zillion buttons all along the back each with less than millimeters between them. I remember feeling so nervous about walking down those beautiful marble stairs, replete with tulle (I really love tulle) draped on the bannisters, tea light candles on the sides of the steps. And a harpist on the first landing.

It was before the wedding but we were all assembling for photographs.

My family:

• my sister who had just come home from Kenya (yes, Africa) where she met her now husband (he's American too);
  
• my brother, who made me giggle a lot - which was great;
  
• my mom who went with us for the catering choices and the tastings (OMG, YUM) and paid for a significant portion of the event;
  
• my step-father who has been married to our family for over 25 years now (their anniversary is next week);
  
• my dad who made a toast that made me cry - in front of everyone - because it showed me that he really loved me and that he accepted us for who we are;
• and my step-mom - who cried too, but wore a FABULOUS hat.

Lehu's family:

• Mom who really wanted to be supportive of us and had some pretty major conflicts with long-time friends over whether it was "right" that Lehu and I exist...and that we were (gasp) getting married. She and I had some nice chats back then about acceptance -- that actually helped me to accept it too.
• Step-father who has since passed away.
  
• Eldest Sister (ES)
• Her husband
• Her eldest daughter - who is now a JUNIOR in college and over 21
• Her youngest daughter - who is a ballerina and almost 20
  
• Next eldest sister (NES)
• Her eldest daughter - who will come to Chicago for college in the fall (yay!)
• Her son - who is a very talented singer, dancer, actor (like his sister who is coming to Chicago in the fall)
• Her youngest - who is very smart and likes computers. She's 11 now. She was so freaking cute at the wedding (she was 2)
  
• Next to next eldest sister (NTNES)
• Her husband
• Her eldest who plays basketball and will be going to high school in the fall
  
• Her son who was 2 at the wedding and - as most 2 year olds - got a little bored during the ceremony and laid on the bottom step yelling. I loved that. It makes me giggle still.
• Lehu's step-brother -- we will call him TaxAtt (since he is a Tax Attorney)
  
• His wife
• Their youngest son (the oldest wasn't there)
• Lehu's other step-brother -- we will call him Pharm (since he is a Pharmacist)
• His eldest daughter
• His youngest daughter

Do you notice a pattern? Well, in the photos, the groups just got larger and larger and larger. It is really funny to look at the pictures now. My family looks tiny. We have grown since then, both of my siblings now are married and my sister has two daughters (love them). But we are still smaller - and younger (hee hee).

The age thing is a joke we share since I'm 6 years younger than Lehu. Her birthday is the end of this month - she will be 44. Ooh! I am open for suggestions for a gift to give her.

And, I'm a total slacker, since we are celebrating our anniversary on Saturday I have not prepared a gift yet for her. She gave me the cutest little pink MP3 player I've ever seen! I've been exercising and the music really helps. Thanks, honey. Love you!