Twenty years ago today, Robbie and I hosted a wedding reception for my mom, Claire, and her beloved John, a widow and a widower who saw their foxhole friendship blossom into a love story like no other.
Last time these two showed up in this blog, they were making snow angels and sledding down hills on boogie boards.
But Mom’s not your garden variety snow bunny. She literally has her doctorate in Instructional Technology, which means that she is way hipper with digital stuff than I am. So much so that she made her own wedding invitations on the computer. That was pretty cool, except that – unlike most brides – it meant she could always print more. And she did. If Mom saw you in the grocery store and remembered how much she used to like seeing you at Jazzercise, she’d pull an invitation out of her purse and – bam! – I was calling the caterer to update the guest count. Again.
And here’s a little bonus content on John. Most people know him as the visionary behind Good Shepherd India, a terrific organization that’s working to bring education, jobs, and an unprecedented awareness of God’s love to some of the poorest and most culturally rejected people in India. But John is also a graduate of clown school – the prestigious Bozo University in Florida, to be exact – and it shows.
To make their wedding day extra special, John hired an actor to don a gorilla suit and “kidnap” my mom off the dance floor. Not your typical champagne toast, sure, but their first date was an accidental screening of King Kong (they’d meant to see Munich, but it was sold out), and it seemed only fitting to carry on with the monkey theme that had launched their love story.
I mean, who wouldn’t?
The first hint of trouble came when the actor didn’t show up. (A better gig? Hard to fathom.)
Undeterred, John found his son, John, and compelled him – mid-reception – to swap his tux for the gorilla suit. All was back on schedule…except that John Jr. couldn’t see out the eyeholes. This being a second marriage for both of our parents, he and I didn’t know one another very well, but that didn’t stop my new step-brother from stumbling into me on the dance floor and hissing through his plastic nostrils: “I can’t find your mother! Help me!”
I launched him in Mom’s direction, whereupon John Jr. successfully abducted her – in her full length wedding gown – and hauled her down the dock to a waiting boat. Ever the gallant, Groom John cried out, “I’ll save you!” and hopped aboard a jet ski to give chase.
At that point, most people figured the party was over. There’d been no alcohol, but everyone was definitely a bit loopy. Knowing that John intended to bring Mom back (he’d already alerted the DJ to break into Pretty Woman when he did), Robbie and I plied the guests with more cheese and crackers and did our best to convince them to stay.
Which is when things got worse.
John had chased down the boat and, out of sight of the party-goers, managed to transfer mom (did I mention the wedding dress?) onto the back of his jet ski. All that remained was for him to come roaring back in to a hero’s welcome.
Except that he got lost. When you’re out on the water, I guess every cove looks the same. Eventually, though, they navigated their way home, and Pretty Woman and her groom cut the wedding cake – which John cheerfully put straight into the hands of the guests, since I’d forgotten to order dessert plates.
I also forgot to pass out the disposable cameras Mom had purchased in lieu of hiring a professional photographer, which is why there are not more pix in this post. You’ll just have to imagine the gorilla on the dance floor, the bride on the back of the jet ski, and scores of wedding guests walking around with wads of cake in their hands.
So…Happy 20th Anniversary to one of the most fun and resilient couples I know! You deserve each other.
(Seriously.)
And to anyone who is feeling the pain of loss or bereavement right now, can I just say this one thing? Your story isn’t finished. Go ahead and grieve – I still cry sometimes, missing my daddy (especially when my own daughters got married) – but don’t ever fear that this, today, is all there is. God has a wonderful plan for your life.
You might not wind up on the back of a jet ski with a clown, but I can promise you this: God is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask for or imagine, and he is all about second chances. And as my friend Lisa always used to remind me, “God is the God of romance.”
💕
