Christmas Is All Around Us

Yesterday the Family trouped down to southern Indiana to attend the wedding of my cousin, Emily, to her longtime partner, Rusty. Set on the grounds of the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead, the rundown barns and towering honeysuckle provided the perfect backdrop for this low-key, elaborately country-style marriage. It was the meticulous detail that made this event truly unique. The mismatched tablecloths, the wildflowers gathered into seemingly effortless bouquets, the tiny antique saltshakers, the Mason jars at each place setting in lieu of drinking glasses: all these elements came together through a community effort, which Emily herself described as coming together like a patchwork quilt, from all of their family and friends. The heaping mound of salad was hand-picked from Emily’s and Rusty’s own garden. The field next to the reception canopy was constantly populated with kids of all ages making good use of at least two dozen homemade hula hoops, brightly decorated with colorful tape. And a series of talented musicians kept the ambience at a perfect pitch with their banjos, ukeleles, and their acoustic guitars. Of course, I’m partial to any event that includes a banjo.

As youngsters near the same age, Emily and I often hung out together quite a bit at family functions in the old days. She was always my favorite cousin, and since she was exactly seven months older than I and a grade above me in school, I always had looked up to her as the wiser and more experienced, and definitely a very cool girl. In the early 90s she would often sport a stylish perm that I envied with a passion. She taught me how to make beaded necklaces and knotted friendship bracelets, and she introduced me to the Goosebumps series of books long before my friends at school had ever even heard of them. She always seemed to be a step ahead of anyone else I knew in terms of style and creativity. During her wedding yesterday I revisited that same feeling of awe and respect for what she had managed to bring together in her own terrifically unique way. I think that I can honestly say that this wedding was the most genuine, unassuming yet gorgeously elegant I have ever seen.

If only it hadn’t been so unexpectedly cold!