New York Times Wedding Announcement of the Week: SPECIAL EDITION

Ceremony, originally uploaded by savemejebus.

This week, rather than pick a couple from the New York Times I know absolutely nothing about, I am going to select the wedding of two folks I actually know, the marriage of my friends Lisa and Paul.

On Friday evening, Lisa and Paul were married in a hilltop ceremony overlooking the vastness that is the Inland Empire. It was a small, lovely wedding. I was worried I would be sweating bullets in my suit but thankfully the temperature cooled down and the canopy of trees over us provided enough shelter to make for a comfortable ceremony—at least it was for me. I don’t know about Lisa and Paul.

I’ve known Lisa since the fifth grade—twenty years, practically. She was our spelling bee champion two years in a row. I was considered a favorite but tedious rules did me in. We didn’t really keep in touch during the college years but we both had our friend Preeti to keep us informed of what was going on with the other. After college I heard from Preeti that Lisa was dating a guy who worked at the same law school she did. I made a mental note of it and went about slaving away at my accounting job.

A few months later, Lisa’s law school was assigned to me as a client. I was excited because it meant I get to see Lisa after almost five years. The lead partner and I took the CFO and controller of the law school to lunch before the engagement was to start. As we waited to be served, the CFO began teasing the controller about a “girl” he was dating from the law school. Right away I thought about what Preeti had told me about Lisa, but I didn’t mention her name. They could have been talking about someone else and at that point I wasn’t even sure exactly what Preeti had told me, so I said nothing and decided to verify.

As it turned out the controller was the one that Lisa was seeing, which meant I would be working closely with him. I wondered whether the connection was something that might be problematic to the audit, but since I really didn’t know him other than the fact that he was dating an old schoolmate, I stayed on. It wasn’t the easiest audit. In fact it was close to a mess, but getting to see Lisa and getting to know Paul made it worthwhile. I was auditing the law school when 9/11 happened, so I guess you could say that we all went through a lot. Lisa was stuck back east because of all the grounded flights and trying to get her home was an ordeal.

In any event, I’ve gotten to know both of them since then, and I’m happy to see them married all these years later. The strange thing about my interest in the New York Times wedding announcements is that I generally don’t like listening to wedding stories or looking at wedding pictures of people other than my friends. In fact I don’t think I really believe in the institution of marriage now. What interests me about the NY Times wedding announcements is finding out how two people found each other. I suppose it has something to do with me still searching for someone—anyone. In any event, Lisa and Paul’s wedding was a wonderful and inspiring thing to witness and it—just like reading the NY Times wedding announcements every Sunday—provides some hope that it’s not a futile search.