Last Thursday, a week ago today, June 9th was just another day...for most people. On January 31 of this year, Senate Bill 1716 was signed into law. This allows same sex couples in Illinois to enter into civil unions...not get married mind you(baby steps). One of the few things that is happening in this state that is good. A regular day perhaps to you, but the realization that a series of tiny, and not so tiny miracles led me to this.
So, with very little fanfare, with a small group of their closest friends and family, two of my dearest friends were able to publicly and legally be joined in marriage, yep, I'm calling it that, deal with it. It was beautiful. They were beautiful. Both were directed to this point, not by happenstance, but by notion that this was meant to be. They were meant to be. The ceremony was beautifully "officiated" by my friend Allison. How we all became the friends we are, the family we have become, was not by accident. We were all lead to this, though at the time we did not know it, by something cosmic. The band, Charming Axe was wonderful. The songs were perfect, almost as if written for that day. The vows were thoughtfully written, so funny and so touching. The guests were a combination of friends, family, and neighbors. All of us there for the same reason, to let the brides know that we are there for them, to support them as they grow together. We are part of that too, at least I like to think that we all are. I got to meet, or re-meet my Avis, it was nice to see her...
It was a combination of all of the things that in the past year I have realized that I love. Good friends, old and new, who are just good people. Music. Beautiful and thoughtful. Songs that actually mean something. Families were there, as they should be, to witness this. There was eating and dancing and laughing and happy tears. This marriage means something, it means a lot of things, some of which we don't even know or realize yet. It means something, even to people who say it doesn't.
I will keep this day with me for a long time, perhaps ever. This is something that should have been "allowed" years ago. I don't know why it wasn't. As I age, I'm starting to realize that sometimes the why's don't matter. I don't know why some people still think this is wrong, but I don't care about that. What I do care about is that now my friends are, at least legally, afforded the same rights and privileges as hetero couples. I know that two people, who love each other with all of their souls and every bit of their beings found each other, no matter what, that is a miracle.
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