October 28, 2007

The last of the fall colors still clung to the trees around Cherry Hill, Central Park. Browns, oranges, yellows and reds complimented the steel skyline of New York City that towered above the treetops. It was bitterly cold, particularly for the end of October, but the sun was shining brightly in the sky and the golden rays bounced up off the lake. It was a perfect afternoon for a fall wedding.

She nervously made her way down the concrete path towards the lake where she could see a very sparse group of people who had gathered together. She had opted not to wear heels, even though she was well aware that her groom was nearly a foot taller than she was. Even without tall shoes, she felt like she was going to trip over her feet or her dress – something. Her legs felt shaky and she tried to focus on anything else but the few people that were a couple hundred feet away from her.

She didn’t really feel nervous about the marriage part of the wedding. She knew that she was ready to get married and she knew that she wasn’t going to run away from this one. She was nervous about how well the small ceremony would be received. They had had enough money to have a wedding that could have rivaled her first; but they chose to go the unconventional route. They had only invited ten people. Ten! The guest list included: her mother and sister, his mother, brother and sister, and five of their friends. They had no wedding party to accompany them at the altar – not that there was an altar anyway. She wasn’t wearing white and he wasn’t wearing a tuxedo. The most expensive item in the wedding was the sandy brown bridal overcoat that she had gotten handmade and hand embellished with ivory embroidery and tiny white pearls. To be quite honest, she hadn’t even been certain until that morning whether or not she would be wearing it when she looked at the weather forecast and realized it would be far too cold to wear her cap-sleeved creamy tan colored dress alone.

She paused tentatively when she realized that everyone’s eyes were on her – particularly his. Of course, had his eyes not been on her, she would have bolted away in a panic. She smiled shyly as she picked up her pace and quickly made her way past the few friends and family that were gathered around her groom and the judge that they had hired to perform the ceremony.

“Hi,” he said as he looked down into her eyes.

“Hey,” she said in reply. Both of their cheeks were tinged pink from the cold autumn air, and his hair was tousled slightly from the breeze that was blowing off of the lake.

“You’re beautiful,” he said as his eyes perused her face, her neck, and her hair that cascaded in loose curls over her shoulders and back.

“So are you,” she said, feeling a redness tinge her cheeks that was not from the cold air.

“Are you two ready?” the judge asked, leaning forward very slightly.

Jim and Pam turned towards the judge and then turned back towards each other.

“Yes,” they said simultaneously.

He clasped her hands in his and held her cold fingers against the palms of his warm hands. The judge said a few words to start, before turning to Pam.

“Pam, would you like to recite your vows?” he asked. She nodded, refusing to tear her gaze away from Jim.

“Jim,” she said calmly, “you are absolutely my best friend.” She quickly turned to the group of people standing in a semi-circle around them, “No offense to the rest of you.” Jim smiled at her side comment, before he met her eyes again. “You are my best friend. You were my first really, really good friend in the city and you have taken care of me in ways that I never imagined anyone could. I absolutely cannot picture myself with anyone else. You are…” she looked down at her hands quickly and shook her head. “God, you are everything, Jim. And I had so much more to say…I knew I should have written it down.” His thumbs ran against the back of her hands and she looked down at their intertwined fingers again. “I just…I love you. I love you so much and I can’t wait to be married to you and spend the rest of my life with you…my best friend, Jim.” She smiled and took a deep breath.

“Jim,” the judge said, turning towards him, “would you care to go now?”

“Yeah,” he said nodding. “Wow, after that, I probably should have written mine down too.” Pam giggled and squeezed his fingers in reassurance. “Pam…Pam, the first day that I saw you, I knew that I had to be your friend. That first day that I had lunch with you at The Golden Beet…I knew that I had to have you. You bring so much happiness to my life. Everything about you, your smile, your personality, your talents…they just light up every single day. You’re my best friend too, Pam and…” he paused and looked down at their hands much like she had. “You have no idea how incredibly lucky I feel every single day that I wake up knowing that you’re in my life. And I can’t wait for the rest of my life – our lives – to start. I know that with you, I will be happy forever.” She smiled and took a deep breath, trying to keep from shedding tears. “I’m in love with you, Pam. I will always be in love with you.”

The judge smiled and nodded towards Jim’s brother, who immediately took a step towards the three of them standing in front of the lake and handed a small brown box to the judge. The judge opened up the box and turned it to face Jim and Pam. They both looked down at the box and smiled at the very simple white gold wedding bands.

“Jim,” the judge said nodding towards Jim. He smiled and broke his fingers away from Pam’s and carefully picked up the smaller band between his fingers. “Do you take Pam to be your wife?”

“I do,” he said with a smile as he carefully slipped the ring over her finger.

“Pam,” the judge said turning towards Pam. She reached into the box and picked up the band in her fingers and twirled it around her index finger waiting for the magic words from the judge. “Do you take Jim to be your husband?”

“Absolutely I do,” she said with a smile as she slid the band over Jim’s finger.

“Then, by the power vested to me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the judge said with a smile and he turned to Jim. “You may kiss your bride.”

Jim smiled and wrapped his arms around Pam’s back as she laced her fingers around the back of his neck and pulled herself up onto her tiptoes to reach his face. He stooped his head low and kissed her softly, modestly, romantically on her lips. A cold breeze rustled by them, stirring up some leaves on the ground and rippling the water on the lake just in back of them.

“Perfect,” Pam whispered as she started to pull away from Jim.

“Not yet,” he whispered back as he brushed his lips against hers again and allowed a few fingers to trail through a few of the curls in her hair. His lips persisted against hers until she pulled away from him and turned to look towards their family and friends. She felt a flush rise through her body as she scanned the smiling faces of her mother and Jim’s mother and giggled slightly. She turned back towards Jim and pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

“We’re married,” she whispered against Jim’s shoulder, affirming the fact.

He looked down at her with adoration, kissed the top of her golden brown hair and murmured, “We are.”