Josuessica

This past weekend, I had the distinct honour of ushering in the wedding of my dear friends Josue Gallegos and Jessica Ray. It was a beautiful ceremony with a reception that left us all well-fed, which was appropriate - Jess and Josue (referred to hereforth as "Josuessica", since "the two have become one flesh") are a beautiful couple with a beautiful relationship, and they love to cook together which often makes their friends well-fed. Needless to say, if only for culinary reasons (though not only for culinary reasons), I count myself blessed to be their friend.

Some highlights:

1) At the rehearsal dinner, Josue's dad gave a heartfelt speech (one of many over the course of the weekend) about how Jessica called out a side of Josue that he usually showed only to his family. I can vouch for this - Josue went from being a rather ornery fellow to a guy with a glint in his eyes and a smile on his face most of the time. Being in love will do that to a guy...

2) Josue and the ushers and groomsmen went out in the parking lot before the wedding to take pictures. The combination of black suits, bright sun and damned manliness made for a nice "Reservoir Dogs" vibe. I can't wait to see the photos.

3) The Anglican priest who officiated the wedding stated in his homily that Josuessica "wanted to glorify God in their wedding ceremony." From the selection of hymns ("Amazing Grace" and Beethoven's Ninth among them), to being ceremonially yoked together with a rope, to having the attendees take Holy Communion (which demanded much of the capable ushers), to a kiss that demonstrated modesty and virtue (no tonsil-hockey), I'd say they certainly did that.

4) Jess's brother Ryan made it into Houston the day before the wedding, having travelled 48 hours to arrive from Iraq. Needless to say, this added another element of joy to the celebration. Honestly, all the ceremony needed was a dramatic victory by the Texas Longhorns to make it complete...

5) ...Which brings me to this - I knew I would be in the wedding reception while the Longhorns were playing Texas Tech in Lubbock (always a dicey proposition), so I told Eric to text me updates. The first couple informed me that Texas had fallen down 7-0, then 14-0. Shortly after the toasts, I received a phone call from Eric, and he informed me that we were now down 21-0, followed by this exchange:

Eric: Is there an open bar at the wedding?
Me: Uh, yeah...
Eric: You might want to start drinking. Heavily.

The Longhorns came back to win 35-31, but not before stopping the Red Raiders on 4th down twice in the last 5 minutes. Had we not won the National Championship on January 4th in the Greatest Game Ever Played, this might bother me (But I digress...).

So to Josuessica - Congratulations. I owe you a good bottle of wine next time I see you. Godspeed.