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Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday Five Special Days

The First Wedding
Sophia is being ordained this weekend and has posted his thoughtful Friday Five:"This has me thinking of the special rites of passage in our lives which we participate for ourselves or in which we support and bless others: baptism, confirmation, marriage, ordination, graduation, funerals, etc. Such important days, so exciting and joyous, but also sometimes anxiety provoking or deeply painful....So, this week, please share five memories of such sacred moments with God and her holy people from your life and the lives of those you love."

1. I have vague memories of my first communion and confirmation, as when I had those rites I think I was in the 2nd grade? I know I wore a wedding type dress and had to choose a confirmation name, No memories of my baptism at all as that happened shortly after I was born, but I still have the shoes!
2.I remember my weddings, both of them. Since I'm a lesbian, the first, at my partners synagogue, was not legal. It has also been the cause of great discord over the years as, even though it was held at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah (they rented us the space), the largest lgbt shul in the world and the only one in NYC (and my wife's spiritual home) the head rabbi and the assistant rabbi would not marry us because I am Christian.
The second one was in Toronto and is legal in Canada. We still don't have the 1000+ legal rights that heterosexuals married in the United States have. This is made all the more apparent as we are buying a new place now and have to put in place all kinds of protections in case one of us predeceases the other (that leagalese for die,) sigh.
3 My cousin, Becky's funeral. She was 40 and the first of my generation to die. She had type one diabetes.
4.My godchilds wedding. It was in London, Ohio. So she can say she was married in London.
5.My graduation from Hunter College with a Masters Degree in Counseling. It was a part of the city colleges of NY. After they served popsicles! It was great!

9 comments:

Sally said...

praying that one day marriage will be readily available to all!

Love the popsicles after the graduation!

altar ego said...

Like Sally, praying for that day to knock down all barriers and obstacles. Popsicles--fun!

Terri said...

Thoughtful, bittersweet-the weddings...beautiful post.

Jan said...

Thank you for sharing. I especially appreciated hearing about your weddings, because my daughter and her partner have not even tried to get married, but essentially are (with no rights). I'm glad you tried ceremonies to mark your union. Wishing you peace and joy together always.

revkjarla said...

Thank you for your post. Working on the marriage thing for everyone. Legalease is NOT. FUN. We had to do that in NC when we lived there.
I love popsicles after graduation. What a fun idea!!!

Auntie Knickers said...

I attended an ordination once where root beer floats were served at the reception! Working and voting so that if you ever move to Maine you could get legally married here. (Or, I wonder if we will then recognize legal marriages from elsewhere? You'd think.)

Muthah+ said...

Glad the Canadians are more foreward thinking than we Amerikuns!

Barbara B. said...

Geez, when are we 'Amerikuns' going to get with the program already?!

Dr. Laura Marie Grimes said...

Thanks for playing--it's been so intense that I am only now reading people's stuff. Bittersweet indeed because laced by injustice and exclusion--but we are so lucky to have you living into the new reality and helping bring it to birth.

Good luck with the project!