kissing in the street

this morning, we got up at seven a.m., showered, and began our day... at eight, my mom knocked on the door, and helped me into my wedding dress again. then j and i headed down to pike place market, where we did a "trash the dress" session. we decided on one after realizing we didn't want to spend a huge portion of our wedding day taking posed pictures, and thought it'd be neat to go to pike place, one of my favorite spots in the city, and on a ferry ride.

it was so much fun. jovana met us at the newsstand and we started right away. it was a blast and we were relaxed and able to do all sorts of things we might not have done on our wedding day. we ran into the middle of the street (hoping no cars would need to go through) as j dipped and kissed me in front of the pike place sign. we stood right in front of the fish stand while a whole crowd clapped for us. we kissed in front of the gum wall. j chased my veil down elliot avenue for a whole block after it flew out of my hair in the wind. i held on to it while we were on the water taxi and it swirled around us like crazy. we couldn't stop smiling, just like on our wedding day. in fact, it was a lot like re-living our wedding day.

and it was good for another reason. i've been talking a lot with j about writing a book on the importance of civility and etiquette. it's been frustrating for me to watch, particularly in the service industry, the lack of common decency that so many people hold for perfect strangers. but today was different. there is something about a bride and groom that moves almost everyone. we made so many friends. people gave us a standing ovation in the market, and walking down elliot, everyone honked. we joked for a minute with seahawks fans on the way to the game, gave a tourist couple directions, and met a little girl named rachel who was infatuated with my princess dress. people smiled when they saw us, and were friendly and kind and eager to wish us well. and i think it is because when you see two people that are really crazy stupid in love, no matter how you were raised or what sort of manners you have, it melts part of you, and you can't help but feel hope.

so maybe that's the secret - maybe it's not re-teaching an entire society how to say "please" and "thank you" and wait their turn. maybe it's finding a way to help people see the common denominator in those perfect strangers they might otherwise dismiss. maybe it's just about hope and love. it was so good for me to see that... and if i do write my book, i'll need to think carefully about how to frame it so i can really honor the importance of those things. there's nothing more valuable than hope and love and empathy, and i am so grateful and acutely aware of my incredibly good fortune to have a life full of these things. each day i love my husband more, and it's because he brings all the joy in my days to light.

happy sunday!

love,

j