21 August 2005

what a weird thing it is to marry off your mother

my mom got married yesterday. what a strange feeling you get when your mom pledges to spend the rest of her life with someone other than your dad, even though dad died ten years ago.

when first she told us about the engagement, my first reaction was "way to go, mom!"

then it sank in.

mom's getting married.

she's 75 years old, and getting married.

some other man is going to live with my mom.

oh, don't get me wrong, bob's a nice guy. mom couldn't have found anyone nicer. . .except my dad. there it was, that nagging feeling creeping in again.

but i got over it, and i find that bob's as nice a guy as my dad was. . .only in other ways, and that's the whole point.

i even committed a freudian slip at the reception. the photographer wanted a picture of everyone on mom's side of the family with the bride and groom, and i told my wife to get our kids for a picture with. . .wait for it. .
.mom and dad. she caught the slip before i did.

i must like the guy more than i was ready to admit.

welcome to the family, bob. hope your marriage is long and wonderful, and full of goodness and love. may you enjoy a truly ripe old age together, because 75 is young, and don't you forget it.

i love you, mom. may you live to 115 so that you have another 40-year marriage. if it's even half as good as the first time, it'll be a most wonderful marriage.

my hope for you is a most wonderful marriage.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Mr. McCarthy, and congratulations to your mom, and to you for such a lovely statement to her and her new husband. JMC is out on vacation, but I'll forward this to him, too. Best wishes to you and yours.

Merry Young