Same Sex Marriage – The Day We Got Married

As we venture into more groundbreaking news with the new ruling in California, I take this time to reflect about the most special time in my life, almost four years ago today, in Massachusetts…

 

The Day We Got Married

 

Word was circulating in the “Gay & Lesbian World”.  Legalized same sex marriage was looming in Massachusetts.  Was it possible?  Would it happen?  Were she and I even discussing it out loud??

 

It happened shortly after that… the day I walked into her office. She looked up at me from her desk with this look on her face and said… “I was just thinking…” I stopped her mid sentence and said “Yes!”

 

Wait a minute??  Are we talking about the same thing??  Absolutely!  The day I met this woman, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.  She was beautiful and smart. She was funny and a Yankees fan.  Oh yeah, and she was and still is so, so sexy.

 

And so here goes… On May 17, 2004, Governor Mitt Romney ordered town clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as per the Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling.  That began the journey to the best day in my life.  We followed the news every second of every day because the information kept changing.   Governor Romney seemed to be releasing new statements every minute of every day.  Rules were changing within counties, was same sex marriage going to be allowed or not? Then came the 1913 Massachusetts law that was trying to prohibit non-residents from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would be void in their home state.  It felt as if we were scrambling to find a county that would allow us to exchange our vows in time.  After endless research, we finally found our place, Worcester.  My wife-to-be secured a Justice of the Peace (who turned out to be amazing.)  She helped guide us through the steps of obtaining the marriage license and what to expect along the way (and how to handle it.)

 

We arrived in Worcester a day early.  We wanted to get to City Hall before Massachusetts changed its mind.  Plus, they have a three-day waiting period after a marriage application has been issued before you can actually say the words “I do.”  Our Justice of the Peace let us know it was possible to seek a judicial waiver of that requirement, as well.  By the way, by  “judicial waiver” what they mean is “go in front of an actual judge and give him/her a damn good reason why they should let you marry three days sooner!”  All in all, it turned out to be a pretty smooth process.  That is, other than the “hands in the pocket” incident.  Just a warning to all of you out there, when standing in front of a judge, he/she doesn’t like it when you keep your hands in your pants pockets – just ask my wife!  Nonetheless, with the strike of the gavel, we were waived and our application was processed.

 

We awoke the morning of our wedding to brilliant, beautiful sunshine.  The sky was blue, the rhododendrons were in bloom, the birds were singing and we were in love!  The Justice of the Peace arrived and we were ready to exchange our vows.  It was such a beautiful moment, full of love and emotion.  I am lucky and blessed to have her in my life.  I love this woman more than I have ever loved anyone or anything!As I sit here almost four years later hearing the news coming out of California, I cannot help but hope that one day somebody on the other side of our country can sit down and reflect about the best day in their life.     

 

 

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