September 10, 2004 - 4:23 PM

Sophia and Gee's Wedding

First things first. Soph and Gee got married on Monday, August the 23rd in a civil ceremony. Then they had the public celebration/shindig thing on Saturday, August 28th. Which day will be the one upon which all subsequent anniversaries will fall? The decree, sent across all the lands, is that August 28th is the official day of marriage. So all you concerned citizens who were bugging me about that (and apparently also bugging Soph about it, if her semi-annoyed, semi-quizzical reaction to MY asking about it is any indication), there's your answer. And she would appreciate it, I'm sure, if you DIDN'T roll up her birthday and wedding anniversary presents into one catch-all gift, seeing as how her birthday is the 27th.

The public ceremony was very Soph. They held it at the spanky new Campus Center at UMass in Boston which is attached to the building that houses the office from which Soph runs CAPAY (Coalition for Asian-Pacific-American Youth which is an organization for teenagers in the Boston area). Despite the typical heat and humidity of an August day in Boston, it was really quite beautiful, inside and out (lots of windows and natural lighting). I even stepped outside for a few moments during dinner just to get the feel of clean, wet air on my skin and to breathe it in. It's remarkable how good it feels and tastes compared to the air in L.A. Maybe it's just a comfort factor, something that stirs up the memories of 20+ years as an east coaster. I didn't mind the weather. Didn't mind it at all. And the skies! So purely blue with real, fluffy clouds. Oh my word. My entire time in Boston, I kept looking up at the sky and out towards the horizon- no artificial colors or preservatives there, no hazy brown ring of doom obscuring the distance. The atmosphere seemed healthy and it actually lifted my spirits up to see it so. Even a few hours of concrete coloured skies punctuated with drizzles was such a welcome experience.

I was staying with Phil and Jen to the west of the city in Framingham, and we made it to the Campus Center a few hours early to help set up. As I said, it was very Soph, and so she and Gee had their little CAPAY kids doing all sorts of things while our Mom helped Gee's mother and sister bring in all the food that they'd cooked for the occasion (almost all of the food was prepared by them with just a few Korean dishes catered). An area on the second floor was reserved for the ceremony portion while chairs and tables were escorted into position for the reception on the ground floor. I was designated "camera man" because Soph figured that my not having anyone I knew to mingle with there meant I'd have lots of free time to rove about.

There were a few people in attendance who I did know, including my godparents, Dr. and Mrs. Park, who had just dropped off their youngest son Frankie at Amherst College for his sophomore year. I haven't seen them in many MANY years since they moved to North, then South Dakota. Also there were a handful of Soph's friends from Williams College, two of whom are doctors, two of whom are lawyers. Soph's the underachiever in that group ;) The two doctors, Grace and Julia, are both married, and Grace is pregnant (like, 8 months or something), so I was very excited about that; Soomie, I'm not sure what her personal situation is, but Shawei, the other lawyer and one of my surrogate older sisters, is engaged. So it looks like they're all grown up.

The festivities started a little late as set up downstairs was taking some time; but eventually, everyone got situated. Soph's professorial advisor welcomed us and spoke about Soph and Gee (and to be honest, I wasn't all that hooked on his speech...no offense, Soph). He then yielded the floor to the couple, who were not dressed in tux and gown, but in simple, serene summer clothes. The spoke a little and then professed their love to each other. I was crying when Soph said her words to Gee, but when Gee's voice cracked and they both started crying as he spoke his words to her, it took all I had to keep from straight out bawling like a baby.

Short and sweet, as soon as they had finished, many group shots were arranged while the chairs were taken back downstairs (you sat in it, you carried it). I was snapping pictures like a madman for 20 minutes. Finally, we moved down to the first floor where everyone had found their assigned tables. It was at this point that our cousing Ros finally made it up to Boston from New York (she missed the bus, then got stuck in her roommate's car in the traffic caused by people fleeing from the onset of the RNC in the city [damn, that's a lot of prepositions in that sentence]). Soph and Gee served as emcees, having friends and family say fond things about them (my speech was written as we were waiting for the earlier ceremonies to begin); they also had a couple guestbooks at a table where people who brought mementos and pictures could get all artsy-crafty, creating a memorable keepsake for the happy couple.

The final two sets of speakers were two CAPAY girls who performed a poem as a duet to Gee and Soph (and they did a great job with it), and a former CAPAY coworker named Giles who blew me (and I think everyone else) away with his poetry. The dude has talent the size of the Chrysler building, and boy can he bring it. He had the audience participate by cueing sections to imitate various catchphrases of rapper L'il Jon, and it wasn't corny at all...it worked.

So then the gorging began. Lots of eating. Lots of talking. Lots of pictures still being taken. Things wrapped up around 9 PM, and Phil, Jen, and I headed home for some beer and Olympics. A splendid day in the books.

Now Listening To : The Connells-One Simple Word
Random Thought : Soph, there was a tall girl working for the Campus Center, helping out with the setup. She was cute.

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