I spent the last few days with my sister's family in preparation for my nephew's wedding. Lots of preparations, a little bit of pampering (yeah pedicure/manicure), lots of good food, and a little stress. Mixed in were a few tears and memories of those who were with us in spirit only. I thought of my parents several times during the day and how much they would have enjoyed the day.
One of the things I really enjoyed about weekend was getting to spend so much time with one of my sisters. She had done the same thing for me when my boys got married and it was nice to have her to bounce feelings and ideas off of. She has the same strong sense of family that I do (small wonder since we were raised by the same parents!) So I wanted to return the favor.
So I "forced" her to sit and relax long enough to get a pedicure and manicure. She was pretty wary of the paraffin wax but she was a good sport and went along with it. I think she even enjoyed it (well, kinda). We went shoe shopping. Actually, she was the one who needed shoes and we narrowed it down from 50 to 2 and then let her husband decide. But I found a great pair too so that was a win-win. We went to the Westfield Valley Fair Mall (home to two Macys stores and a Nordstroms) and only got lost once before we found the store we were looking for. I am planning a return trip to that particular location. That evening, while most everyone else was out doing their own activities we relaxed at her house and talked about everything and nothing and a few subjects in between.
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My thoughts also went to the whole concept of marriage. I have a strong spiritual belief that marriage is ordained of God and should be between a man and a woman. I respect the concept that there are those who choose other relationships but I do not believe those alternate lifestyles should be recognized as marriage. With that in mind I guess I go on the record to say that I support the current effort in California to pass an amendment to the state constitution that says that marriage is only recognized as being between a man and a woman.
