All Fifty

I can now travel anywhere in my country and stay married. My marriage will no longer blink in and out like cell phone service.

The burden I have been pulling around in my cart since I realized I was gay can now finally be left on the side of the road or perhaps they will simply float away.  I can't wait to see what new places I can go with this newly lightened load. 

It is a glorious day. A deep bow to everyone with the most heartfelt gratitude.

fourth second one

A few days ago we celebrated the anniversary of our Canadian wedding with a workout at the Y and Indian take out. We had tickets to go to the final Lynx game that night but that didn't happen since they clinched the championship on 10/7.

It was just a nice evening being with my wife and feeling grateful for my marriage. We chatted about our third wedding which I firmly believe will happen some day and agreed that we would finally have Indian food for at least one of our wedding celebrations.

I spent a lot of this week thinking about people who were coming out for the first time, Frank Kameny, the rights we don't have and how much our society has changed. Yes, I think I will get that third wedding and this time no white!

family weddings

So the main reason behind the mini vacation was one of my nephews was getting married. The wedding was at Spanish Bay, so Saturday morning we drove from San Francisco to the Spanish Bay Inn is 2.5 hours. Down Hwy 1. Some native Californians may need to pick themselves off the floor.

We didn't realize what amazing time we had made and we can't quite account for our luck now that we know about it. Was all the rain that day keeping people home? Were others avoiding Hwy 1 fearing wash outs? Was it because I'm from Pennsylvania and I am very comfortable driving on curvy, hilly, narrow roads even in the rain?

Whatever the reason it was brilliant because due to the flight delay the day before we really did not have one extra second and the wedding was at 11 am. It was a nice drive. I was amazed how homey and comfortable I feel on narrow, hilly roads. Minnesota still seems so flat to me.

We had a great time at the wedding. The service was a lovely mix of Buddhist/Western, the appetizers stellar [best scallops ever], lovely wine and lunch. Only silly things went wrong which is typical for any wedding.

Then we were off to find the hotel I had hotwired which had ended up being one that was recommended in the invitation package. Casa Munras was nice, we got a great deal price-wise and there was a fabulous cafe right across the street. As always the pillows were too much for me but this is true everywhere.

After some time to catch our breath in the room we made it back to the resort rather late for the after party and had some lovely chats before getting back at midnight and collapsing into bed. Family duty done for the trip. It was great to see so much of my family.

States of Hope

So very, very brain dead but certainly happy.

First Iowa, now Vermont, DC... it's been quite a week and it is only Tuesday.

I am so tired but sitting here so happy with tears in my eyes. I'm thinking about my third wedding. I haven't had my third wedding yet but it has never seemed closer. I can see a time when my country, my entire country will recognize all my rights as a citizen and I will marry the woman I love for the third and final time.

Update: I may be wrong about the third final time bit. When I got home my DW talked a lot about how Iowa is close by, we could do a day trip and they don't have residency requirements and well, I am a sucker for a proposal. So wedding v3.0 may be sooner than expected.

In my own country, legally, with all the benefits and breaks it entails. Anywhere in my own country. I am just overwhelmed with the idea, that it is coming. That I will live to see it.

We probably won't have a big party since we enjoyed that already. We probably won't 'go away' to do it, although that was fabulous.

I know it will be wonderful though. Maybe I'll wear orange.

Happy thought: I may finally get to be a chief bridal ninja as well!!

It feels right. It feels potent. I hope.

the Honeymoon-Tuesday

I am waking up early as far as Victoria time is concerned but that it all to the good. I make myself tea, commune with kitties in the garden and do qi gong. This day was gloomy, one of the 2 gloomy days we had.

After breakfast, scrambled eggs with salmon I think...we gather information and head off on our bikes. We head first to the Canada stat building [not sure what that is short for] and buy a marriage license. It is an incredible thing to be able to do. The woman also printed us out a list of marriage commissioners just in case one of our officiants didn't work out. It was a great experience. and makes me so ashamed of my country. Things need to change. Since change is inevitable, I have hope.

Then we are off to the library. They happily issue us a temporary card so that we can use the computers while we are there. The other thing we forgot at home was the cord for my computer. We get our first few pictures of our wedding in email that day. They are so sweet. My dress is on my way, but we realize there is no way we can count on getting the dress on Wednesday, so we plan the wedding for Friday afternoon.

We then hit the thrift stores for sunglasses, hats and gloves, and other stuff that just got left behind. We have great luck. Then it's off to Government street, we look at the shops, have lunch at Murchie's, an establishment over 100 years old. We visit the equally old tobacco shop and bookstore on either side of it. Then we head for home and unload.

Off to take a bike ride along the coast. it is still beautiful even with the gloom. We take pictures and just really enjoy. Not to mention we get tons of exercise and get an appetites ready for dinner. Change into nice clothes and we head off for a local french restaurant. I love to eat french food in Canada. We didn't call ahead though, and they are having a special event, the owner comes out and explains it is a special wine/dinner event, 9 courses with matching wines. He had a few no shows so he would be delighted to have us join for only $75! This is an incredible deal, but we decline since my sweetie doesn't drink. We never do get back there, which is really a shame.

We go down the street to the Superior, a tapas restaurant. It's a great place with interesting food but we don't have a very good meal due to pure bad luck. One of the items we ordered is the risotto balls. This has a very strong musty cheese in it. I am a bit a of cheese wimp but it was even too strong for my sweetie. That taste overpowered the rest of the meal and all we could taste was mould. Ah well. The adventures of eating out. We head off for home very satisfied with our honeymoon Tuesday.