On Saturday October 14th, 2006 my good friends Geoffrey Weeks and Genevieve Napier were married at Hotel Godin in Montreal, Quebec. Organized in 3 weeks it was elegant, classy and as well organized as other weddings I’ve been to that were planned for months. The atmosphere was great and it truly felt like everyone was there for the right reason; to meaningfully express their happiness that these people were marrying each other. Most weddings I’ve been have felt cookie cutter, cold or just completed staged. I’ve always felt that a good wedding is not made by how formal it is, how good the food is or how much was spent on the flowers. A good wedding is based on the spirit of joy in watching two people who really love each other tie that not.
Being a skeptic of the whole institution of marriage (I know it works for many but I’ve always had trouble seeing myself wear it well) the rare time that I know that the 2 people are made for each other it’s a pleasure to watch. This was one of those times.
As the wedding was ending one of Gen’s friends walked up to me and said she was surprised that I didn’t say something about the bride and groom. Now, I have no problem with public speaking but I’m pretty careful about my role in an event and I usually lean towards restraint.
I can be loud and opinionated with close friends but at a public event I carefully study my place. The shyness rears its head.
But now I wonder, maybe she was right. Maybe I should have said something. If I would have, I would have thanked my friend Christiane for introducing me to both Gen and Geoff. I would have discussed how I probably have seen Geoff about as much as Gen has over the past two years (since he works with me). I would have mentioned all the great times we’ve all had together. I would have fawned all over them about how smart and uber talented they both are. And finally, I would told them how when I look at their relationship, it falls into my category of unconditional love. Real unconditional love is so rare that I can count one my hand the amount of times I’ve seen it live and in person.
Geoff and Gen, all my best.