Why I've been out of touch: Part 2

To continue our tale of abounding happiness:

Both the wedding and reception were at Scott’s Seafood, by the water at Jack London Square in Oakland, and it was a beautiful sunny day -which made it a perfectly great setting.

The wedding reception was unbelievable. Even the taking of wedding pictures was filled with much laughter and silliness, as the photographer joined enthusiastically in the merriment, laughing, and enjoying the moments with us in a way that made the experience fun and relaxed.

The reception itself was filled with more love and laughter than I can convey. We were told repeatedly by our guests/friends/family that our wedding and reception were the happiest they’ve ever seen / been to. And Kirk’s best man, Dan Ott, had the wise perception that, unlike most weddings, where some people are invited or attend because of a sense of obligation (extended family ties, business relationships, “they came to our wedding so we have to go to theirs,” those sorts of things), in our case, everyone who came to be with us on Saturday was there because they truly wanted to be…truly wanted to share our happiness with us. I think Dan is exactly right. It was an amazing outpouring of love and support for me, for Kirk, and for us. The love that people conveyed, the happiness people felt on our behalf … We were overwhelmed. And still are.

And to give you an idea of how much our friends did to make us feel loved: Along with the “local” friends and relatives who came to the wedding, many of our guests came from great distances or rearranged their schedules to be with us. Of special note to me and Kirk: Deborah and Whit (sister and brother-in-law) rearranged a moving date and U-Haul reservation (long story), packing up the U-Haul and driving from LA on Friday in order to be with us Saturday… then they still had to unpack the U-Haul on Sunday. I can’t imagine how tired they were on Monday morning… ugh. Jon & Christa (brother and sisiter-in-law) had a bar mitzvah first thing Saturday morning-and Jon was one of the people being called to the bema to do a reading, so he HAD to be there. He and Christa raced from Danville to Oakland to make the start of the ceremony. But perhaps more impressive is the number of people who came from long distances on such short notice: Friends and family came from Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Texas, San Luis Obispo, Palm Springs, Merced, Auburn. Man, do Kirk and I feel loved. And so very grateful for the love and friendship we felt from everyone there.

Kirk and I did the “first dance” thing that married couples are supposed to do but, unlike most weddings, we had the dance floor to ourselves as my daughter Dani, with her beautiful voice, sang “our” song, “Make You Feel My Love” - a Bob Dylan song recently covered by a brilliant young singer, Adele. (Worth a listen on “YouTube” if you haven’t heard it. Or depending upon how the wedding reception video comes out, perhaps we’ll be able to post Dani’s version…it was beautiful. So proud of our girl!)

Okay, this blog entry gone on too long already, so I'll leave Part 3 of our wonderful wedding story till the next blog update.

Love you guys,
/ab

Why I've been out of touch: Part I

Hello dear friends,

I know it's been a LONG long time since I updated my blog, and I hope that hasn't worried you... it's actually been for a really good reason: Kirk and I got married yesterday (June 19). It was an amazing day, all the more so because we only set the date and started making plans 16 days before the wedding. (We wouldn't advise this... There's a reason most weddings are planned with at least six months' lead time.)

Some of you reading this blog were invited to the wedding. Amazingly, despite the short notice we provided, almost every person invited did, in fact, attend the wedding. The response overwhelmed us. (Those of you who were not invited, please believe me, we wish you could have been included but we simply couldn't invite everyone we would have wanted to share the day with.)

The day was joyous beyond belief. For me, it was a perfect day: From the time we got up and started our preparations, everything went smoothly. Everything ran on schedule, there was much laughter throughout the "getting-the-wedding-party-dressed" phase and the brief dress rehearsal... And then there was the wedding itself, which was... perfect. As most of you know, I'm not a person who really likes to follow the "traditional" paths, and Kirk's sense of humor encourages that tendency of mine. So his suggestion that we start our wedding ceremony with a famous "bit" from one of the Bronstein family's favorite movies, "The Princess Bride," suited me just fine. If you know the movie, it's the section that begins with the wedding ceremony being officiated by a priest with a serious speech impediment. ("...mawwage is what bwings us togevah...today...) This"bit" is regularly-quoted by my brother, Jon. If you've never seen it, you really need to.) The ceremony was officiated by Kirk's best friend from law school, Bob Shipway (affectionately known as the Reverend Bob), and the first word out of his mouth was, "Mawwage," and then he did the whole "bit." That set the tone for the wedding: much laughter and silliness mixed with wonderful loving emotion.

Okay... It's late and I need to get to bed, but I'll do Part II in the next couple days...

Before I sign off, I guess I just want to say that I think Kirk and I have "felt" married for quite some time, and maybe that's part of why we haven't done this marriage thing till now. But the actual marriage to Kirk...the actual ceremony in front of our friends and family, well... it just reinforces the incredible blessing of Kirk's love and makes me feel so incredibly lucky to have the loving commitment of this wonderful, smart, kind, tender and generous husband.

Oh...and one last thing: Please – no wedding gifts! Really. We’re in our 50s for crying out loud, and we want for nothing. But if you wish to give something in honor of our marriage, donations may be made to:

Children's Hospital & Research Center Foundation
2201 Broadway, Suite 600
Oakland, CA 94612

More to follow... love you guys... /ab

Update to post: Yes, yes, we'll be posting links to photos, that sort of thing, but be patient! We don't have the pics back from the photographer. Once we've got that, we'll be posting a link to get you guys all "hooked up." Thanks for your enthusiastic interest!