A speech for my mother, on the occasion of her wedding

I was trying to write a toast for my mom's wedding, which was this last Sunday. Everything I wrote was coming out sounding like an essay for a class called My Mother Gets Married 251, but then my brother suggested I try writing it in blogger. Wonder of wonders, it worked, so I figured I might as well post it. Enjoy!

So the thing is, she was always supposed to marry George Clooney. I had it all planned out - he'd sweep her off her feet, treat her in the manner to which she would be happy to become accustomed, and take us all to his villa on Lake Cuomo. And then, of course, he'd introduce me to some young Hollywood heartthrob and I'd start attending movie premieres and have spreads in YM Magazine and suddenly this is all about me but you get the point. And yes, he's a little too young for her, but she's young at heart! And he's not Jewish, but its not like they'd be raising kids together, and he's in the movie business which is essentially the same thing. And yeah, it probably wasn't too realistic, but I really wanted to date JTT and I didn't see any other way of making it happen.

Besides, its no more ludicrous than some of her early wedding shenanigans. My mom doesn't want you to know this, but this is actually third wedding she's agonized over: her second took place during a sandstorm but her first was between her two troll dolls, Bam Bam and Colonel Corny, at her Rohnert Park ranch house when she was a kid. It was a lavish affair and she was in total control with Connie and her best friend Geraldine as assistants . She even composed the musical accompaniment. And, unlike this one, it made it into the newspaper.

My point is, there are all these images floating around of what my mom's wedding was supposed to be like. I wanted it to be all hollywood glamor, paparazzi, and me dating Devon Sawa, and she saw herself as a squat, plastic, potbellied doll. At the end of the day, though, this is the wedding that matters. The wedding that Lenny and my mom planned together, toiled over, sweated over and made happen so beautifully, is what matters.

And what is more important even then this wedding (although these last few days my mother would have told you that NOTHING is more important than this wedding) is what Lenny and my mom have managed to do with their families. In the same way that my mom has been the glue that holds our family together and, in some ways, the glue that has helped build this community, she and Lenny are now the bindings agents of this new family, one that I for one am very excited to be a part of.