Today marked the first day I’ve been to the wedding of one of my former students. It’s not the first of my students to ever marry (I even had one get married while she was still in my physics class!) but this is the first wedding that I’ve attended. The groom I’ve known since he was a young boy – we used to go to the church that his family attends. He’s also my lawnboy (I guess I should say gardener or landscaper now that he’s married). Both he and the bride were in my chemistry class and he also was in physics (just last year).

The wedding was a very nice ceremony. It was a church wedding and was a cross between traditional and not-so-trad. The bride’s father, also a minister, did the majority of the service. I’m impressed he was able to do it without getting all emotional. The couple did a symbolic act of mixing colored sand to represent their joining – sort of like the candle lighting tradition that’s rather popular. I thought that was a neat touch.

The reception afterwards was nice. I got to see old church friends, current co-workers, and former students (and a couple of current students) while there. It was nice getting caught up with folks I hadn’t seen in ages. The cake was very good as well.

As I was driving home, I thought some about marriage. I still don’t know if it’s something that I’ll ever partake of, but there are times when couples are just right for each other. I think the couple who got married today are a good mix. I think they’ll be good friends and lovers for the rest of their lives (and I hope that is the case). And I know some couples who will be perfect together, but may never marry. And, unfortunately, I know some couples who are perfect together, want to marry, but are not allowed to.

My parents are a perfect couple. They’ve been married for nearly 40 years and are probably better friends now than when they got married. It’s wonderful to see people fall more in love and become even more comfortable as they grow old together. Marriage was good for my parents.

I have a friend who has a son and lives with his father. They aren’t married, though most of their friends and co-workers assume that they are. They’ve found that for tax reasons, it’s actually better for them to not marry. And she’s always claimed that she doesn’t want to chain him down into the relationship. It’s quite possible that they’ll spend the rest of their lives together, but they’ll never marry, nor regret not marrying.

As I’ve mentioned before in my journal, my sister and her partner got married in August of ’04. The government doesn’t acknowledge this, however. They love each other and are very good friends. I imagine they’ll be together for the rest of their lives (hope so – they need to look after me in my old age!) As far as their families and friends are concerned, they’re married, even if it’s not a legal arrangement. Why they can’t get legally married, I just don’t understand. Their own church is OK with it, why should the government give a damn about their married status?

I’ve been focusing on the good couplings that I’ve seen in my life. Unfortunately I’ve known couples that are not right for each other. But today’s a day of celebration of the good couplings in life. So cheers to Scott & Kate and the other loving couples out there!

And now, to completely change topics, I shall discuss chili. Why? Well, my afternoon may have been filled with wedded bliss, my evening was full of chili! Yes, tonight was the Great Chili Escape of 2006.

Several of my co-workers gathered tonight to taste several people’s chilis and vote on the best. We ended up having seven competing chilis. No two tasted alike – I was impressed there. We even had a “white chili” which was chicken based with white beans instead of red beans. I liked them all, but ended up voting for chili #1 (which was the third one that I tasted). There were probably 30some people there, but the competition was fierce. It turns out chili #1 won – only by 1 vote. Chili #4 was made by last year’s winner and came in a close second.

I’m stuffed to the gills with chili and bread (had to cleanse my palette after each chili, you know!) and the desserts which were there. The food was good, and as with all of these gatherings of co-workers and former co-workers, the conversation was entertaining. I even played a game of pool and even got 2 balls in. Including the winning ball! Yay! 🙂

After my exciting and people-filled day today, I think I’ll just stay at home with my kitty tomorrow. Shall just spend the day reading, playing City of Heroes, and watching DVDs. Sounds like a good day to me!