Wedding Plans

Heidi Ryder Photography, found here:

I’m about to leave home for a few weeks, until after the wedding of my daughter, Social Sphere. I have been playing wedding planner from a distance for the past several months. Now most of the work that can be done ahead is done, and Social Sphere’s school semester is almost over, so we’re going to spend a little time playing together, at my mother’s house, so three generations of us.

I have been concerned for some time about how to keep up on this blog during nearly a month of travel—most of the time at a house where the phones are still connected to the walls and there is no computer or internet (nor is there a nearby internet café, and the local library will only allow me to use the internet IF my mother is both present and remembers her PIN number). The community seems to fear interlopers like me coming in and stealing the internet. I find it puzzling.

Anyway, it looks like we have a temporary solution (an air card, of sorts), so I will not be completely cut off. So then the main limitation will be time and focus.

I am hoping to persuade my son Political Sphere to occasionally step in with a guest post. Many of my posts are triggered by things he brings to me anyway. And he could use the practice at putting the ideas into a form that conveys them to someone other than me late at night when he gets off work. He works long hours (two jobs); some of the time he gets a chance to read online (on his phone), but getting writing time is more rare. So we’ll see.

I may also use some of my previously published pieces on protecting marriage. Back in 2004-2005—during a time Texas passed its DOMA legislation, which was almost immediately nullified by the Supreme Court (Lawrence v. Texas), and was followed up with a stronger, clear constitutional amendment to protect marriage—I wrote a number of pieces explaining the value of marriage and what is at stake.

Since that time the opposition has somewhat successfully framed the debate as it did in California with Prop 8: anyone who supports traditional marriage (as most of the people in world history have, and a strong majority in every state right now) is portrayed as a hateful homophobe and therefore blacklisted. I never receive so much intolerance for my reasoned point of view than when I write about the value of marriage; I also receive a lot of responses thanking me for saying it clearly.

While I do not intend to antagonize, sometimes I have to risk that if I am to do what I can to inform. I hope it will be useful, and that you’ll check back here over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, it’s time to enjoy what we are meant to enjoy about marriage: the coming together not just of two people, but their families, their relatives, their friends—their two worlds—to form a new family meant to last from the moment of promise until forever. Living happily ever after takes some skill and effort, but in this case, with a couple who tend to know how to be happy and spread happiness, I think it’s very likely. Let the ceremonies begin!