Tying the Knot

On March 24th Heather and I tied the knot in a beautiful, intimate ceremony that took place at the beautiful setting and home of? my sister and brother-in-law in the Palm Springs area. It was a very small gathering of 40 people. The small gathering created a very warm feeling that was enveloped in joy and connection as not only Heather and I bonded in marriage but members of our two families started their blending process as well.?

Since seeing is believing (except perhaps in the world of A.I. and Photoshop), here are some pictures from the event memorializing our union. As I stated above, the setting was beautiful and from my perspective these pictures look more like paintings than photographs.

In a Jewish wedding the marriage takes place under a canopy called a chuppah. It represents a model Jewish home which is open on all four sides to symbolize hospitality.

We had my two kids and Heather’s two along with her niece come to the chuppah towards the end of the ceremony to recite two prayers. My daughter Ariella recited one of the prayers in Hebrew and she did a great job. Unfortunately, from the vantage point of the guest who took the picture, only two of the five were captured here.

Someone texted this picture to Heather which I thought was quite fitting given our mutual love of tennis.

Here was our first (and only) dance. We had a single acoustic guitar player provide the music which was lovely. We were told that if we gave him a song he could learn it and play it for our first dance. Big mistake! He just couldn’t pull off the song Waste by Phish. That is probably the reason we don’t look super boisterous as we were cringing at how poorly the song came off. Oh well, such is life.

Our home in the desert is actually situated on a lake with a lot of water fowl living there. There is a white swan that is particularly aggressive these days that spends a lot of time near our home patrolling it to protect his nesting mate. He chases any perceived threat away without any hesitation. It’s not unusual for him to come close to the house while in the water but a day prior to the wedding this is the first time we actually saw him come on to our deck. I’m not sure what triggered it but I’m glad we were there to see it and capture this picture.

Whenever unusual events take place connected to wildlife Heather likes to look up the symbol of the bird or animal. This is what she found when she asked what was the meaning of a white swan.

Innocence and purity: The swan’s white hue is frequently linked to innocence and purity, and the bird itself is occasionally viewed as a sign of purity, particularly in Christian art. 3. Swans are lifelong partners and are frequently depicted as symbols of love, faithfulness, and devotion in many cultures.

We both thought that was a beautiful symbol to reinforce our belief that we would be embarking upon a wonderful journey of love and deep commitment. Yet another indication we were on the right path together.

And if the white swan wasn’t enough, we went to hang out by one of the pools in our community that is directly across from our home and while there we saw this beautiful blue heron land on our property.

Naturally Heather looked up the symbolism of this bird as well and found the following.

Blue Heron & Egret symbolize being calm , presence, being at peace, uniqueness, and balance. Blue Heron asks you to look inside and nurture all aspects of yourself. Embrace your “flaws”, uniqueness, and feelings of shame with self-love.

This is another powerful symbol to help us navigate the inevitable challenges of any meaningful relationship. If we can both do our best to live our lives such that peace, serenity, and balance result without losing our individual identities then we can improve the odds that we bring our full presence to the relationship while retaining our authenticity. The end result should be an even more fulfilling and strengthened partnership.

Finally, I must say that it felt so right and natural to start wearing a wedding ring again. It’s hard to find one incredible partner in life, let alone two and I have been fortunate to have done so with Roneet and now Heather.