Readings

Hurricane?  What hurricane?  I really enjoy when things are blown out of proportion and then sort of turn out to be comparatively mild.  Personally, I prefer to be more cautious when it comes to things like weather.  It's always so much worse when the event is downplayed and then more people are injured or stranded somewhere.  Today, both driving into and home from work were very easy.  If I hadn't heard that this storm was supposed to be a hurricane, I would never have thought it was more than a bad summer storm.  

Today was another productive day.  We finally chose the readings!  Yes, finally!  A couple of nights earlier Alli sent us the poem that she wrote specifically for our wedding.  Reading it brought tears to both of our eyes and as I told her in my e-mail response, I think that it rivals many of the top readings we had selected and downright blew the others away.   It's funny because sometimes I question my objectivity when it comes to her writing.  Of course I cannot claim full objectively; my love for her will inevitably bias my opinion. However, upon reading this particular poem (especially after reading it after so many others) it was clear that it wasn't just my bias but true, beautiful writing.

Using her poem, we tried to choose some different types of readings.  Her was written in the first person.  We also chose a slightly controversial theory written by Plato that we're hoping Katie would be willing to read.  If she isn't, then we do have a backup but it ever since I first heard the story, I fell in love with it. It resonated within me in such a way that reading it during this process just added to its meaning.  I'm kind of ashamed that I was ignorant of Plato's writing it.  I first heard it in song format from a musical.   Part of what I love about it is also what makes it controversial.   In this excerpt from his symposium, homosexuality is just as natural as heterosexuality which the main point being that it's about Love.  Love between a couple of the same sex is still just as profound, beautiful, and romantic (I also believe natural) as the love experienced between a man and a woman.  I really like that this reading highlights that.

With Alli's first person poem, Plato's philosophical story about the meaning behind love, we decided that we wanted one that was about marriage or something worth keeping in mind in the future as a couple.   The final reading actually is not official yet.  We like one poem and one reading equally and thought that the reader would be the best person to choose between the two.  So I am sending her the potential readings and look forward to her choice.  We would be thrilled with either and both work for our wedding.   The first choice is a poem about creating a "walled garden" where the two of us can go to shed any other role aside from our roles as husband and wife.   The other is reading about what marriage as a whole and what it means offering some very nice pointers to remember and carry with us in the future.

I like that all of the readings are kind of different.  At first, I wanted them to all sort of relate but really, what's the point of people reading the same things with different wording.  Really in the end I wanted our favorites to be read despite their differences.  I'm very happy with our choices and I hope that our readers feel just as good about them as we do.