From the Bride’s Father’s Notebook – Day 2
December 22, 2009
Wedding License
Kate and David are filling out the marriage license application. We all want to make sure it’s done just right, so everyone contributes a word. Second guessing a bureaucratic form is usually pretty fruitless, but it seems vital to each of us right about now. Of course the stakes are high, or at least our desire to get it right is high. Humorous seeing first David, then Katie, fill it out, speaking each question aloud. And the details: should I write dad’s middle name or keep it just an initial? I think the final decision was neither. At the stroke of a pen my middle name, which I don’t much like anyway: gone. Could I get a whole new name this way? While they filled it out we spoke jokes and memories of past forms filled out, past bureaucracies maneuvered, past liaisons legalized. Now get the birth certificates, get the passports, get everything you need; we’re ready. The cheapest and hopefully easiest part of the whole ordeal is, besides the couple’s consent, really the only essential part, at least legally.
The Friend Test
In the evening, some good friends we first met in Seoul came over for supper. We had a very nice evening. What I like is that David fit in, that he liked them and they liked him. It’s o.k. for the bride’s dad to want additional proofs and signs that this is, really, truly, and actually a good match. Anybody who gets along with our friends, will probably get along with us. And our daughter.
Making it Legal
