CONFESSION

I am addicted to the Weddings (formerly Weddings and Celebrations) section of the New York Times.

First, I need to say that this has nothing to do with Alaska, or Homer, Alaska. Yes, this is a great place to live, but really and truly, it’s great for me because it’s a small artsy town. If it weren’t for my family here, I could be just as happy in most any small, progressive town, as long as it wasn’t beastly hot in the summer. I am, after all, an Appalachian hillbilly, and there are many places in that part of the world that are every bit as wonderful as Homer. What my heart places have in common is not much traffic and grand vistas without crappy buildings (houses and otherwise).

Next, I need to say (I do need to say this) that I am thrilled that we can now celebrate marriages of anyone who chooses that way of defining/consecrating/categorizing/honoring a relationship with someone they love. Used to be that everyone could celebrate, but only some could marry.

After I read as much of the NY Times news as I can bear (this weekend that includes, among many things, Beau Biden’s funeral and American Pharoah’s Triple Crown), I click over to Weddings. Sometimes I read the feature wedding, sometimes not. From a few weeks ago, one of the feature couples (they’re both in the WNBA) is back in the news: dissolution/annulment/divorce, whichever their lawyers can figure out. And one of them is pregnant, which was also news yesterday.

Then I try to figure out, based on names listed (without images), who is not young, who might be older, like me. Today, there was a Gertrude and Tom. With the name Gertrude, you have got to be older, unless your mother is someone like Gwyneth Paltrow or Madonna. Turns out the bride is 74 and the groom 73. And then I see Charles and Stuart, 82 and 64.  They are the grooms, though the Times doesn’t call them that.

By the time I moved to Alaska, I had accepted being single as a permanent state, but I enjoy thinking about celebrations of true love. And marriages — someone else’s that is.