June 17th, nine years ago. I was standing on a Texas front porch with long hair and a Maile lei on. Everyone two days before the ceremony wanted to know if I was going to cut my hair for the wedding and I did cut it, just enough to remove the split ends. Standing in front of everyone that came, I noticed a few people. My mom, who looked worried and sad, my father who had his game face on, and my grand parents. I believe this is the last great memory I have of my family together in one place.  I looked like a deer in the headlights.

Hand over the old guard, and accept the new. New rules new people, but still your same old self.

I have a few regrets about my wedding. The first is the choice of the best man. My best friend of 19 years at the time was figuring his life out, so I opted for the total rebel drunk high school friend, huge mistake. Porter should have been there but I was too weak to make it happen.  The next and I believe the greater of the two regrets is I did not consult a book of etiquette about the grooms responsibilities. Most of the protocols I remembered, however I was unaware that the grooms party throws the rehearsal dinner. I wish that I had been  more man enough to have done so, and also that I had the money to make it happen. My father had just lost his business, and my mom didn't approve of the whole thing anyway so why try. If I had saved more money earlier on I would have been able to do it on my own. Amy (Courtney's cousin) and Al however picked up the slack and threw a cool barbecue.  As it was I had to borrow  money from my grandfather for some of  the honeymoon. He wrote me a check  for a one night (out of 10)  in a killer hotel room in Paris and if he would talk to me in person today I would pay it back in full although I'm not sure if I could afford his interest. I also don't know if I would recognize his voice though as it has been eight years since my mom convinced everyone that I was a dangerous person.

Two regrets and one thousand great things happened on June 17th, 1995.  I was named Roger, there was a beautiful cool summer wind at sunset, the dress fit Courtney perfectly,  and 997 other things that we have pictures of to prove.

Damn nine years goes really fast.

More Journal

     Peter's Journal      Pictures of Soulmates Jewelry Custom Designs    Home Page

         Soulmates Jewelry & Custom Design

  9885 Waterstone Boulevard, Cincinnati, Ohio  45249     513-683-5333 

             emailSend any questions or comments to the jeweler.