Celebration at the End of the Earth

Last weekend found me again away from home, this time in what must be the remotest place I have yet to visit - Marquette, MI. I was expecting a small town. What I found was a last outpost of civilization, bordered on one side by an ocean of trees and on the other by the cold, blue waters of Lake Superior. It was an area of clean air, cool breezes, hordes of trees, and an airport smaller than the church (I counted the chairs for passengers - there were 50 total).

While Marquette was lovely, it was simply my destination, not my purpose. The purpose was to celebrate the wedding of Emily and Kendell, two of my favorite people. And what a celebration it was! Perhaps the best of it was spending time with others who were there for the very same purpose. Some of us knew each other already, some of us knew each other by reputation, and others didn't know each other at all. Nevertheless, a shared love of Emily and Kendell bound us into one great army of celebrants. I got to meet the legendary Faith - Emily's life-full, fun-loving friend since childhood - and got to see the rest of the Holmes clan again and spend more time with them. We all worked together, played together, lived together and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Of course, the wedding itself was wonderful. It was festive, the weather was divine, the cakes were delicious. Emily was gorgeous and Kendell looked like he was walking about a foot off the ground. And yes, when they were presented as a couple, I cried my eyes out (dry eyes were a lost cause from the start - I nearly cried watching the rehearsal). It was, in short, a perfect wedding and a beautiful celebration.