(no subject)

[holzman_tweed]

Note to those waiting for interview questions: As I mentioned previously, this weekend was my parents' 40th annivarsary party. I'm going to LA area for work from tomorrow to Wednesday, so I don't know if I'll have time to get it all together then either, but I'll try.

It fell to my sister and I to give the first toast to our parents, and we spoke about it beforehand. Since she's painfully shy, we decided I'd deliver the main part of it covering what we both wanted to say.

First, mom stood and welcomes everyone and thanked people for coming and for working on making the event possible, particularly jadegirl who did the calligraphy that everyone loved no matter how critical she herself was of the work. :)

Then Dad stood and said, "I'm speaking today about the reproductive cycle of the in the anopheles mosquito. Can I have the first slide, please?" My brother-in-law whispered in his ear and he gave the speech he was actually giving, once laughter died down. He spoke about his own happiness at the event, and about how after 40 years you really get to know someone, and so he didn't know if mom would see it coming that he had gotten her the gift that Martin was slipping into his hand even as he spoke! Mom indeed hadn't expected it, and you could hear the sharp intake of breath as she opened the box to see a silver and amber necklace that she and he had admired some time before. (Dad later commented that it's a good thing that no one told him the 40th anniversary was the ruby anniversary.)

Then Diane and I stood, and I said, "I'm speaking today about emerging trends in network security, no that's Dad's joke." Once the laughter died back down, I said...

Almost 40 years ago, there was a small, run down, humble hotel in Cincinatti. And up to it drive a small, humble car, and in it were my parents new to their marriage. To their name, they had that car and twenty-five dollars. Seven years ago, we were back at the site of that hotel, because it had become the Westin in which Diane and Martin had gotten married. I've always thought that site was an excellent metaphor for their marriage, because like them it started from humble beginnings, faced significant challenges, and flourished.

Our parents' marriage was faced with the challenges of the sixties. The turbulence of the Viet Nam war left their mark, but their marriage also formed during the current feminist revolution, whith my Mother at the forefront of that movement. It was a time when what it is to be married was being redefined, and alot of marriages did not survive that. That their marriage did speaks, I think, not only to the strength of their love and of the relationship, but to each of their individual characters as well.

So our toast to you two is: "Nice start. Here's to the next 40 years!"


There was no fireplace for me to hurl the champagne flute.

Afterwards, people told me that as I spoke, they were really seeing the resemblance between my father and myself, which eludes people on occasion because he's almost completely bald and clean shaven.

It was a wonderful party.

Comments

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

Great toast!