We board the yacht Celebrity in Alexandria at 5 PM for the wedding. The white-haired Captain performs the wedding ceremony on the Potomac River. There is an open bar. Dinner is served after the ceremony. The boat cruises slowly toward the sea and then turns around and passes Reagan International Airport and the Washington Monument as darkness falls.
We don’t know the bride well although we have been friends with the mother of the bride for many years. The father of the bride, a more recent friend, Bruce, wears his tuxedo with all the medals he earned in four tours as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam. He has his silver star on the right-most side of his bank of medals. HBe tells me that the medals were insisted upon by the bride. He's not sure wearing them with a tux is legal. I try to imagine someone with the balls to challenge him and fail.
The bride, we learn, has taught in the American University of Beirut. The groom has served in the Peace Corps in Tonga and Zimbabwe. At one point a very energetic dance breaks out with Tonga music and eight young people who have served in Tonga dance with the bride and groom.
After the garter and bouquet tossing and the cake cutting, the guests are all issued yellow rubber ducks to salute the newly married couple on the dock with faint squeaks.
I was very impressed with these two young people who represent the best that our country has to offer. Eagles mate for life. My hopes go with this young couple. May they do as well as eagles.
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