A wedding on the bay

Last year my good friend since middle school, Chris Fletcher, called to ask if he could bring a "friend" over for Thanksgiving. That friend turned out to be a young lady named Elimika. It wasn't long after Thanksgiving that Chris called back and said to leave Oct. 11th open on your calendars.

So, after a great deal of planning, including training one of my students to milk the goats, it was off to Baltimore for the wedding...

The boys did fairly well in the car. As I write this, we're in our hotel room in Jessup, Maryland, looking for a church to attend on the way back home. Pray that the return journey goes as smoothly!

On Friday night there was a traditional Zambian "send off" party. It included a "negotiation" for the bride. Chris's younger brother Dan "paid" for the bride, whose mother and sisters were all literally covered with gifts in the form of blankets. Then Elly presented Chris with a bouquet of flowers, and, as you can see, they danced as everybody looked on.

Here's one quick, surreptitious shot of Elly at the church, St. Cecelia's in Baltimore. The pastor, an elderly Vincentian priest, gave a deeply meaningful homily on the importance of living the Beatitudes.

I'd say that Cyprian thoroughly enjoyed the privileges of being in the wedding party as ring-bearer, including, a you can see, the limo ride. Nota bene, that's not real champagne.

Congratulations to the newly weds!

At the reception hall, with Chesapeake Bay in the background.

A happy partier together with his beautiful mother. The boys were absolutely wild, eating, break dancing, and generally making a party of it. As should be the case at a wedding!

There were quieter moments too, likely because you can't make too much noise while eating.

As the best man, I gave a toast early on. Elly made me promise to keep it short--and I think I was well under three minutes. I began by reminding Chris that I, not he, won the 7th-grade chess championship. I admitted that itt might only have been because he was sick and didn't show up to school that day since he was and always has been a better chess player. Nonetheless, Aristotle in his Ethics says that only those who enter the list can be crowned the victor. Then I said that life is like a chess game, and I've admired how Chris has played at this far more important contest, that is, the chess game of life. I ended by congratulating him on his most brilliant move yet, the capture of the queen. A toast to the newly weds.

Here they are at their first dance.

Hotel breakfast this morning before we head back to North Carolina!