What a Difference Almost a Year Makes! (Wedding)

My last post was in March last year! How time flies when you're having fun...uh, will rephrase that in a bit. Actually, some of the year was amazing!

For one thing, our son, John David Smith married Rachel Price in a beautiful ceremony in Portland, Oregon on May 21. He asked if I would like to "give him away." Fantastic!! What a wonderful, thoughtful request. Even though he had been quite young at the time, he also remembered the former consulting minister of our UU church in Roseburg quite a few years ago, Rev. Alex Holt, and asked if he would perform the ceremony. So, of course I definitely hit the road in my small RV/home, not towing the pickup this time because I had a seasonal job awaiting in South Dakota afterwards. More on that later.

It was a beautiful trip from the deserts of Southern California up I-5 through the craziness of the Los Angeles freeway, taking a short detour to Yuba City to visit a high school friend, John McConnell and his wife Barbara. Then on to the GREEN!!! of Oregon with an overnight stop in Roseburg to see another good friend, Pat Zemlin and finally meet her son, Rick Zemlin. I had been away entirely too long, and the trip reinforced my desire to move back there, hopefully soon. More on that later as well.

Finally, there I was at a campground near Portland, enjoying all the beauty of the area and looking forward to the wedding dinner and ceremony. And I wasn't disappointed. I met Rachel's parents and two brothers who flew from Houston, Texas, as well as many of John and Rachel's friends. One of the best things was being able to see my daughters: Kathy White and her husband Jeff, and Colleen Van Pelt and her husband Dan, after too many years. John's dad (and my ex), John D. Smith, and his wife Pam were also there, and I loved talking to them as well. And I also got to see my ex-husband's sister, another Pam, after a long time.

Rachel loves unicorns and purple, and her gorgeous dress showed that love to perfection. With her red hair the effect was stunning. Then there were her shoes: purple high tops with unicorns! John and his men wore quite formal attire with polished black shoes, vests, etc. Rachel's two women all wore high tops with their beautiful dresses. No one can ever accuse these wonderful young people of being boring! Or uncomfortable. 

The catered reception was delicious, as was the dancing and conversations with so many people.  The typical Oregon weather provided lots of wet stuff, but everyone stayed dry and cozy inside.

I hated to leave, but was already thinking about ways to return soon. So, meet the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.