NAKED BUT LEGAL
March 11, 2006
Sweet Hubby-to-be had been doing research (I've since learned that SH does a lot of research before making decisions about where to go, what to buy, which doctor to see, etc. Days, weeks, sometimes months of research. I, on the other hand, will look at options and say "I like that". Then, if my choice doesn't pan out, I either deal with the consequences or just make a different choice. To me, time spent doing research is time that could be used writing, or dancing, or playing games, or reading, or being with friends. You know, fun stuff.) and had learned that, in Colorado, two people can solemnize their own nuptials. There has to be a marriage license, of course, but the two can sign as both participants and witnesses.
And so I came to Denver to be married. Mar. 10 we spent skiing, something he was quite good at and I'd done only once before. I took a class while he was on the slopes, and I really got the hang of it, enough to go off on my own for a while on some of the gentler hills. I loved it. (And we've never done it since, too bad.) Mar. 11 we drove to Estes Park in the Rockies and rented a cabin. It was glorious. Our cabin had a big picture window looking out over a creek. Snow had begun to fall, and elk passed by from time to time. I had asked that our wedding date be March 12 (I don't know, I just like the sound of it better than March 11), so we stayed cozy with takeout Italian food and a nice fire in the fireplace. There were 3 video tapes available in the cabin so, to pass the time until after midnight, we watched Disney's Pollyanna. It made both of us weep - further proof of compatibility!
March 12, 2006
After midnight, we sat in the cabin's big hot tub, which we'd ringed with tea candles. We drank champagne, and talked about the future. Thus, miracle of miracles and did I ever think I'd live to see the day, we were married.
I really enjoy telling people we got married naked in a hot tub. It's fun to watch people silently wonder to themselves "Where exactly was the minister standing?"
No one in my family had met Sweet Hubby at this point, and it must have been kind of freaky for them to know I'd married someone, a stranger to them, and so very fast. I mean, we'd only met last August, and didn't start being a couple until November, and all long distance. We'd only actually been together a few times, and now here we were, married. Everyone in my family had gone through so many of my break-ups and heartaches and disappointments, I can understand if they were a bit anxious about this new, big, fast step. But somehow they seemed to pick up from the way I spoke about SH that this time was different. This time there was genuine promise and possibility. This time I sounded relaxed and calm and consistently happy when I talked about him and about us. So they steeled themselves for a possible fall, and also opened their hearts and their arms to this new member of the family. They've always been pretty terrific that way. And, of course, when they met him, the absolutely loved him, first for who he is for me, and soon for who he is. Marrying SH is the greatest gift I have ever given to my parents. At long last their love-hungry daughter was safe and happy, adored by and adoring of a worthy man.
Something I noticed soon after coupling with SH was that my old hurts, scars, resentments, and bitter stories about past relationships just dropped away, disappeared, became memories with no sting. I could see almost immediately that the only problem there had ever been with any of my past loves was that I simply wasn't with the right person. And I could see my own role in those difficult, ultimately hurtful partnerships, how I'd put up with what wasn't good for me, tried to change him, tried to change myself. Until SH, I had no idea that love can be easy. So easy. So easy and right. How lucky am I?
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