We Have a Date

June 19, 2010 will be the big day. I don't love the date, mainly because I've never been a big fan of June, but that's okay. I've started to understand that weddings run you, you don't run your wedding.

We will be getting married at my church, Goddard United Methodist with a reception following at Golden Living. I think it's really awesome that our reception will be at the headquarters for a nursing home facility, but again it's the nature of the beast. I like old people, so I'm cool with it anyway. I just wanted to make sure that the air conditioner worked and it seemed very cool the day we visited the reception site.

We still don't have a time or photographer or cake person (I assume baker is the correct term for that). But considering we've only been working a week at planning, I feel like we got an acceptable amoutn accomplished.

I am slowly starting to accept this whole engagement/marriage thing. I think it's really weird how when you start putting different titles on a relationship and rings on different fingers, things seem to want to change. Regardless of the situation, Cody and I are still Cody and me (this sentence is an English teacher's nightmare).

I think I kind of had a delayed reaction to this whole thing to be honest. The other day I was trying to explain symbolism in reference to Lord of the Flies to a group of 14 year olds. I know that any sort of abstract idea is so difficult to explain where kids can understand, especially 10 minutes before lunch, but I was determined to do my best. I immediately thought of a cross as being a logical symbol that most people understand the underlying meaning for. However, as a public school teacher, I try to stray from anything Jesus related. From there I decided I would go to the symbols they use on a map to signify a state capital, a major interstate, etc. Then, I realized this is the generation of mapquest and most of my kids have probably never even looked at a paper map (insert cringe at my growing older here). So, on to my 3rd attempt to explain the same concept. As I stood there in front of 30 pairs of glazed over eyeballs, I came up with an extremely simple symbol: a ring. I began to talk about what a ring symbolizes beyond a pretty piece of jewelery. However, by some stroke of God, who I had refused to acknowledge only moments before, my students starting spouting off all of these things that a ring symbolizes. Love, marriage, trust, a relationship, sex (from the funny guy in the back whose desk faces the wall because he can't focus on anything), money, etc. I stood there for a minute stunned that these kids have any idea what a ring symbolizes and then realized how early on people understand that a big part of life is finding someone who will give you a ring or wear the one you give them. I had this weird flashback to me being a 9th grader and a fastforwarded memory of all of the steps that somehow created this road to me being engaged to be married. It was all a bit overwhelming to take in, but I finally felt like I had processed the situation.

It's funny to work with young people who serve as a constant reminder to who you used to be, where you used to be, and the things you used to believe. At 14 I didn't know Cody Prater would be the man I would marry, but I am so glad that he is. It was humbling for some reason to know that I have successfully traversed those years of not knowing where I would end up or with whom I'd end up. I was glad to not be 14. And I was glad to be 23 and engaged without any hesitation or question about the situation. All of this took place in a crowded room with my rowdiest class of the day. As the bell rang, the smart elic (sp?) who so thoughtfully threw out the response "sex" in reference to what a ring symbolized apologized to me for saying it. I reprimanded him and told him that everything didn't have to be about sex and went on to say that marriage is not all about sex. As he walked out of my room, I sat down with a rather wide grin on my face understanding all of the things that marriage will hold for Cody and myself.