Weddings and death

I love weddings. I never tire of them. Send me an invitation and I'll be there if possible. Most likely, I will tear up with absolutely no shame. Perhaps the reason I love weddings so much is because of the joy and unmitigated optimism they engender in me. The couple are devoid of cynicism, and imbued with hope. As a stark contrast to my "wedding fetish," I offer the reverse: a death of a spouse in a long marriage.

Last week, a good friend unexpectedly died. While Eileen and I mourned his passing, we also bore the burden of supporting his wife, who was even a closer friend to both of us. As a friend of mine said recently, "death sucks." After attending the memorial service on Friday, and then sitting Shivah at their home last night with many of their friends, I was reminded of a wonderful quote from a Phillip K. Dick novel, "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said." Paraphrasing: "Grief is the price you pay for the privilege of having loved." So true.

Anyway, in this context, I "Stumbled" across this wonderful wedding video, which was just the corny, yet so, so sincere antidote to my sadness, which I desperately needed. It's seven minutes long, so don't feel that you have to watch the whole thing; but, if you are a wedding freak like me, you will not be able to abort.

~ Tom