“…why not celebrate an actual wedding during a mass?”
That’s how our Fr. Tom opened the vigil mass on October 13, 2012, during which Vondalee and I finally made it to the end of our just over three years of surviving, struggling, preparing, and finally putting ourselves in each other’s (and God’s) hands before a pleasantly shocked and surprised congregation in our home parish of St. Clement Catholic Church here in Plant City.
Some folks have asked what stores/shops we registered with for our wedding. We intentionally chose not to register anywhere, because more than material gifts we wanted to be able to celebrate with our families. That said, if you do want to send anything, see the PO Box in the “New Here?” page.
I was blessed to spend the weekend getting to know Vee’s daughter (and now my stepdaughter) Nicole, and having my dad and his wife in town for the day made everything as special as it could be for such a low-key celebration (well, we thought it would be low key until the surprise was sprung on the over 200 who were there for vigil mass Saturday afternoon).
Yes, there are pictures, but I have to pay the photographer first. The ones here were taken by my stepmother Barb (a.k.a. “my dad’s wife”) while the professional was doing her thing.
“Reception dinner” was at the local Outback, with Chocolate Thunder from Down Under filling in the role of wedding cake (I call it “chocolate suicide”). Our pastor Fr. Tom was gracious to come along and talk about baseball and his calling and preparation for the priesthood as well as a lot of other serious and casual topics. We forget that our spiritual leaders are also human beings and I always enjoy getting to know pastors and priests as people, too.
We’ve been encouraged and humbled by all the greetings and notes we’ve gotten over Facebook and the other social media outlets I participate in. We’re very grateful to our parish that has provided for us spiritually and even materially during the tough times we were going through during the four years of looking for permanent work, and for the personal investment that many made in us during that time to make sure we’d make it to the end better than when we started.
For those who aren’t familiar, Vee and I met in sixth grade at MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate School in Santa Ana, California, where I was born and raised. Life took us in separate directions after that, until social media got us back in touch after my layoff and subsequent divorce.
Sometimes it takes that time of going down different paths to find out the one that you should have stuck with in the first place.
For those who have followed my journey back over the years, that journey is almost complete. My faith journey continues. Readers will recall that my plans to be confirmed this past spring were put on hold due to a medical emergency; it now looks like that journey back into faith will find its arrival next spring after I undertake deeper and more intensive catechesis and preparation.
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Steven Buehler