The Small Things – Where’s the key?

A few weeks ago, Tara and I, along with our oldest daughter and her now wife, celebrated with our friends and family and a fabulous wedding reception for the four of us. Friends came from far and wide and braved the rain to celebrate with us.

First, to give you a feel for how we approached the event, here’s a peek at the invitations:

We wanted people to relax and have fun. And, as a bonus, there was delicious cake!

As we planned, that was our underlying principle that we applied to all of our decisions. We weren’t worried about the “proper” way to through a wedding reception. If something stressed us out to even think about, we skipped it completely.

Our philosophy was simple: the only thing that could stop us from having fun was our own attitudes. We agreed not to worry if the details were a little off on the day of the reception. A mixup with the decorations, or a last minute substitution on cupcake flavors wouldn’t be the end of the world.

As the date grew closer, I was confident. Nothing would stand in the way of us having fun. No little detail was going to derail our party train.

Then, the day arrived.

Along with it came rain.

Rain is part and parcel of living in the Northwest. That doesn’t mean, however, that we wanted to deal with it that day.

This hiccup challenged my philosophy of not letting the little things bug me, but it didn’t stop us from being optimistic. Yes, a sunny day would have framed the event differently, but rain brings new life, so in that regard, it was appropriate.

A few hours before we were to leave for the venue, Michelle, our oldest daughter, texted Tara. Did you pick up the key?

What the holy fuck? Key? What key? Why would we need a key? It’s a PARK!

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A park with a gate. A gate with a lock. A lock that requires a key.

After much frustration and discussion, we left our house. Tara brought a long a giant splitting maul, which is basically a sledge hammer with a wedge on one side. That lock was coming off, one way or another.

The irony of the situation, of how our whole event wouldn’t be ruined but rather upended completely, but something as small as a key, didn’t help to soothe us during the drive. We laughed about it, that awkward, uncomfortable laughter that said we knew we were fucked, but hopefully we’d work something out.

When we arrived at the park, our caterer was there ahead of us, bless her. She met me outside in the drizzly rain and we looked at the lock together. Because looking at a lock always helps open it.

In this case, actually, the looking did help!

There was a note inside a ziplock bag. If you need the lock opened, call John. John, the good man, even gave us the number.

In short order, John arrived and the party went on as scheduled. And, you know what? We had an amazing time. Thanks to all our friends and family who joined us in celebrating a really important event in our lives. Rain and all.