We arrive about 45 minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin. After checking in with my sister in law and my niece in law, who were busy in the house preparing the food, and complementing them on their choice of dresses, which were both lovely, I and my brother, with his best friend, copped glasses from the kitchen, a perk of being family, and headed out to her car for a glass of Moscato she had bought at a gas station mini mart. She complemented me on my lack of pretention as I sell nice wines for a living yet was standing on my niece's lawn enjoying a libation procured at a gas station in rural Washington. My sister showed up shortly and we took a sibling photo.
The ceremony was beautiful. My brother, holding back tears, and sister in law, escorted my niece across the lawn to a table set with flowers and 2 glasses of sand, whose significance I will get to shortly. Pragmatist that I am, I found myself thinking, in the back of my mind, "They are never going to get the grass stains out of the train of that dress." My niece and her husband exchanged vows. Then my brother, still fighting tears, it was a day he had dreamed of for years, recited a poem by E. E. Cummings, my brother loves poetry, about people journeying through life together. This is where the sand comes in. My niece and the groom then blended the two glasses of sand into a third to symbolize blending their lives together. The groom the lifted bride off her feet and into his arms for the ritual kiss.
It was time for dinner and dancing. Clouds had moved in and things began to get moist. As everyone filled their plates with wonderful, home cooked food from the buffet on the porch moist turned into wet. Wet turned into steady rain.
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