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I GOT MARRIED!
by James Glaser May 3, 2008 Yes, I got married to Ms. Wanda Violet, in Saint Marys, Georgia, on Saturday afternoon in the presence of my daughter Nikki and my son Garrett, along with Wanda's sons, Caleb and Joseph. That was it, just our four children, although my daughter Whitney was there through the speaker phone hookup on Garrett's cell phone. Whit was still in Washington recovering from surgery, but she did get to hear everything. Wanda and I had thought about a big wedding for our family and friends, and I know that could have been nice, but when we sat down and thought about it, we decided that our children were really the most important people in the world to us. Also, we knew, because they live so far apart, it was important that my children and Wanda's children got a chance to meet and talk to each other. In a large wedding that would have been impossible. We figure in twenty or so years our children might have to make some important decisions about us, and it would be nice if our children could feel comfortable talking to each other. A weekend isn't much time to get to know someone, but I think the four of them got off to a good start. That was it though, just our children and God. No spouses and no grandchildren. For Joseph and Nikki, that meant a weekend with out their children. Children and grandchildren are precious, but they do take your time and mind away from what ever you are trying to focus on. We took over the Good Bread B&B in Saint Marys for the weekend, and our ceremony was held on the second floor covered balcony which was the width of the house and about twelve foot deep. That was more than enough room for the six of us, and we had a backdrop of a beautiful magnolia tree. The sun was bright and the temperature was in the 70s, every child was involved, and Wanda and I wrote our own vows. Wanda surprised me by singing the Beatle's song "Love, Love Me Do." She also recited a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Actually saying some vows could be a three minute ceremony. We didn't want it to slip away quite so quickly. With the different things we had written into the ceremony for all the children to recite, we thought maybe it would last 10 minutes, maybe even fifteen, but it stretched out to twenty three. We both had our favorite Bible verses recited by our children, and the four of them in unison pronounced us husband and wife. Suzanna of "Studio S" photographed the wedding for us, and then after the wedding we had a studio session in her studio where we had portraits of our children taken, and then it was off to "Marianne's," a truly elegant Southern restaurant for our wedding dinner. For desert we went back to the Good Bread House and had our wedding cake, and Champaign. Actually, we were legally married on Friday the 29th at a church office in Woodbine, the closest place to the Camden County Court House where we bought our license. Friday morning started out with what could have been called problems. We had the minister scheduled for 9:30 am, but when we got to the Court House, we found that a power line was down and the place was closed. About 9:10 the power came back on, but their computers were still down. So, we called the minister and rescheduled for 11:00 and started looking for a place to eat breakfast. Even though Woodbine is the County Seat, they have only one restaurant, but it wasn't open in the morning. So we had to drive back to the freeway and head south for two exits before we found a place. After eating it was back to the court house and after paying a marriage tax, they gave us the paper work that would allow us to file our tax return as "married filing jointly." Being married on the last day of February has a couple of advantages. First off, you only have an anniversary every four years. Second, and more important, you remain newly weds for four years, too. The church office ceremony was short, (about two minutes) and neither of us felt married after. We headed back to Saint Marys, and Garrett showed up about fifteen minutes later. The whole weekend went by way too fast, but it was wonderful having our children to ourselves again. Today is Monday, and I am sitting about 90 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, looking at the beach from the giant sliding glass doors that lead onto the balcony of a condominium loaned to us by Susan and Dan DeLoach, two dear friends of Wanda's. We are some place south of Daytona Beach, and other than the sound of the waves hitting the sand, it is quiet and peaceful. Last night, we slept nine and a half hours, and will probably need more to recover from the last few weeks. The month-long show I had at the LeMoyne Foundation for the Arts was over last week, so on the 18th I had to take down my sculptures. But before I could move everything, I had to build a new gallery adjacent to my Craft Gallery in Rail Road Square to put everything. After getting that done, I started moving tools and equipment to my new work space off the gallery/store, where I will be able to work and demonstrate what I do. In fact, this coming Sunday is "Artists at Work Day" in the Square and many of the Rail Road Square artists will be showing people how they create the things they make in their studios. Last time we did this, I had fourteen people standing around my band saw watching and asking questions. Friday night is First Friday, so I'll have to get back for that too, but until then I am going to get a lot of time on the beach, and Wanda wants to take me to something called a boutique, what ever that is. Sounds exciting! |
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