Happy Anniversary

As I sit here I am looking out my window at what appears will be a beautiful day. Blues skies, soft breezes, the sun is casting highlights over our aspen trees, the birds are rendezvousing in the branches, and Starbucks is already jumping to meet the demands of iced, tall, foamy, cappuccino, hazlenut, soy whatevers for their customers. The high today is supposed to be around 83 degrees. It's exactly what I had pictured for this day in June in San Diego fourteen years ago; a.k.a. our wedding day.
We were supposed to have an outdoor reception at the home of friends whose gardens and veranda sat atop a lovely hill overlooking my hometown. They had worked for months to make it even more beautiful, and it was indeed a great spot for this occasion. At least it would have been had the torrential winds not blown our canopy down the ravine and the thundering rain not drenched our tables and chairs. Allow me to reiterate: June. San Diego. Who'da thunk?
We had no backup plan. We had no decorations to move indoors, as the fresh flowers of our plan-A were going to be the main backdrop. We had no way of contacting the 350 guests we had invited to let them know we were frantically changing our location to the church hall. We hung a poster on the door and hoped for the best.
And then a crazy thing happened. People showed up out of nowhere with stuff. Some who had the foresight to imagine the state of my poor mother's mind had simply called her and asked, "What are the colors?" and then appeared with flower arrangements to suit. Another came bearing several pre-lit trees while yet another showed up with other odds and ends to fill space and add warmth. My mom insisted that I not fret about a thing while she ran around frantically trying to negotiate a path of survival and success. Which she did. And as it turned out, no one could have guessed that we hadn't planned an indoor celebration to begin with!
I had made very few decisions about this day as I had not designed my wedding since I was 11. But my sister had, so my approach was to leave the decisions up to her and my mom. (I was in college, and I had finals!) The day before the official "I do's" I asked my sister Suzi to go buy me some wedding day earrings. Her gasp of disbelief that I hadn't already done so was followed with an inquisition about what I wanted; big or small? dainty or bold? diamonds or pearls?dangly or subtle? "Whatever," I replied. "I'm sure whatever you pick will be perfect." I'm pretty sure I drove her crazy during this time.
I only remember having an opinion about two things. One, the bride's maids/flower girl dresses. And two, I had insisted simply that our reception be somewhere other than the church hall. I have changed a lot in the last fourteen years and as I look back on that day, I think about what it would be like to do it all over again making choices based on my current personal taste and style (now that I actually have some.) And just to be safe, I would probably have a weather related backup plan. The good news is that despite my changing opinions, the one thing I've never wavered on is the groom. The guy that stood across from me who promised to love me no matter what has held up his end of the bargain of "better or worse", and we've managed to enjoy a great life together so far. So here's to hoping that the next 14 years are as good as the last.
From where I sit, it's looking pretty good.