This Seems Like a Good Idea

Well, Joe and Rosie lived across the street from each other on Amsterdam Avenue for about a week in August of 2019 before meeting. Then, while swiping around on Tinder(TM) one evening, each decided the other was fun, attractive and interesting enough to go on a date with. After some produce related delays, they got tacos and spicy margaritas at a place called Oso and they had a really good time; so now they're getting married and they want to have a good time with you too.

Nora: Hello family and welcome to Rosie and Joe’s first wedding of the summer. We are gathered here in the presence of Mount Monadnock and Stone Pond to celebrate our love for these two and their love for one another. Rosie and Joe met as all modern couples do, on Tinder, during a hot 2019 summer. Like many Sullivan women, Rosie knew very early on that she and Joe were it. For Joe, he knew he couldn’t stop thinking about her, wanting to chat, wanting to be around her. After knowing each other for only two months Rosie went on tour. They made it work, they talked on the phone, Joe wrote her letters and poems, I’m talking snail mail sent to hotels when she was in a town for more than three days. They met up at least once a month. When I asked him why he went through the effort for a very new relationship, he said it didn’t seem like effort, he “wanted to see her” and wasn’t trying to make a relationship work, it was effortless. As a non-denominational minister with a degree in Anthropology and no religious affiliation, I have no words of wisdom that come from sacred religious texts about the foundation of love, so I did some research on the subject. Marriage is a socially recognized monogamous union between two individuals to commonly, but not always, provide structure to raise offspring. The arc of human evolution has always had the goal to reproduce and preserve itself, we created religion to explain the unknown and marriage as a way to organize mating and its consequences. In western cultures marriage is used to preserve lineage and paternity of offspring and create alliances between families. So presumably Joe has brought at least one goat for my father today? Goats aside, anthropology doesn’t have much room in it to describe the social concept of love, they leave that up to the sociologists and psychologists. When I asked my favorite psychologist he said: Love is having someone to share your life with; someone to look out for you; and someone to look out for. Love is having someone to share all the joys, triumphs, and pains as you go through life. Looking for a more pragmatic approach I asked my mother: Getting married means you are forging a bond and it first require honest, considerate, respectful communications... and don’t forget fun. When asked to say what love means to both Paul and Nancy thinks of the Tevye / Golde duet from Fiddler on the Roof. For them it started—43 years ago next week! congrats!—It started with a physical attraction that sparked at just the right time for each of them, and it has never abated. Then there was the effort to figure out their commonalities, and what they could enjoy together, while at the same time enjoying their independent lives and endeavors. Love was and is working through the years to build their family and their relationships with each other and with friends and family, and working as well through the inevitable disappointments and disagreements while remaining, at the core, attached to each other and committed to making stuff work as they deteriorate together. On that pleasant note. Our parents have built their own love together and now the couple has a few words to say about their future together. (Vows, which can be seen below due to how many characters can fit in this text box, are exchanged here and everyone cries) Nora: Abe and Soraya can you please present the rings? (Rings are delivered by two children) Rosie and Joe, are you ready to proclaim your love for one another in the sight of Mount Monadnock and these witnesses? Rosie, do you like it do you want to put a ring on it? Rosie: I do (Joe puts the ring on it) Joe, do you like it? Do you want to put a ring on it? Joe: I do (Rosie puts the ring on it) Rosie and Joe, with your pledges to each other formalized in front of all these witnesses, by the power vested in me, I officially pronounce you married – Joe, you may now kiss the bride.

Joe (Groom): Rosie, I didn’t know what you were going to be when you came into my life. You came when I was least expecting you and I couldn’t have told you where I thought we were going to end, but I knew that we were going to have an amazing time. Love requires us to open ourselves in ways that can be scary; inviting the potential for rejection, hurt and loss. But love is worth the risk of a leap into the unknown. Love is an adventure. And nothing defines my life with you better than adventure. With you, adventure can mean traversing thousand feet tall, single foot wide cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, or discovering that St. Louis is really fun even if it’s not somewhere you can walk around after sundown, or it can mean waiting an hour in line for pizza. Or sometimes the adventure is renting a U-Haul and moving five blocks south, sometimes the adventure is cooking dinner, or taking out the trash, or running errands..even errands to IKEA that take all day and we don’t even buy anything and I lose my mind. Even the most menial chores in life are a joy when you are around. And that’s why, I’ve said to you a million times (when you need something put on one of the high shleves or we’re out of coffee or the dishwasher needs unstacking): I would do anything for you. I know you think that I’m joking whenever that comes out of my mouth. And that’s because most of the time I am, but I also mean it, every time, completely. That’s my promise to you today, not only because it’s what you deserve, but because it’s so damn fun. I’m so happy to be here, at the end of the adventure that has been getting married, and I can’t wait for the next one to begin. Rosie (Bride/Bard): There was a woman who met a man, And knew he was her home She went away - had to leave that man, But she was never alone Through letters, and phone calls, and facetimes, and texts He followed her - every state and the next And eventually she found her way to him and they started building a home What goes into a home, you inquire? Well nothing without strong bones and perspire So she set to work to figure out How to build their home She vowed to always listen and understand To know when to stop her Sullivan rant And to take a breath and remember sometimes Fixing can wait ‘til the morn She vowed to give him back scratches at night And accept his yelling each time Ravens take flight Or when he insisted on Absolute for bagels Her Sundays (truly) cozier than before But most of all, she vowed to always partner and love The man who she was forever in awe of The kindest, warmest, best person she ever known And together, they built four walls, a roof, and door So Joe, as we “embark on this new journey” I vow to keep building our walls and learning So that one day when we’ve fully expanded our home and hearts We can leave it together, into the stars.