This weekend we had an amazingly enjoyable time at the wedding of my second daughter which was held in Minneapolis Minnesota. We started our adventure on Friday after work. Natalie drove the entire trip there and we encountered a severe thunderstorm while driving north to Green Bay and en route to Minnesota. Visibility was zero at times and many cars were forced over and stopped on the interstate. Unfortunately, the five-hour trip turned into a seven-hour trip after we just got north of the storms when Natalie realized she forgot all of the dresses at home. We turned around just short of Green Bay and headed back to Sheboygan through torrential rainfall and severe thunderstorms a second time which slowed us down even more. If nothing else, it made for a memorable drive.
She wasn’t too happy with herself, but in the end, I tried to explain how good it was that we figured it out when we did, instead of right after we pulled into the hotel in Minneapolis. In all fairness to Natalie, this is not typical for her as she is very organized and meticulous about planning for these trips. I, on the other hand, can’t seem to remember just about anything at any particular moment in time and am very thankful to have her around making sure I don’t forget a critical piece of luggage. We won’t talk about how many times I have left my credit card or keys lying around at various random establishments over the years.
It was about 10:15 PM by the time we arrived at the hotel and we were all extremely tired by that point. Parking in the hotel garage was a circus in itself and I finally got the nerve to relieve Natalie of that task at the last minute as I feared we would still be circling around the different levels of the parking garage in search of that perfect yet nonexistent parking spot for our massive Ford Expedition that could barely make the turns in such tight quarters. In the end, we found a spot and finally checked into the hotel late that night feeling exhausted.
It was a short sleepless overnight for all of us and an early awakening on Saturday for the girls to head out and get their hair done with my daughters prior to the big event. Cole and I had a coffee at a nearby place and read the news (Dan) and played games (Cole) while waiting to see the girl’s hair masterpieces a few hours later.
I took my camera and thought I would try to juggle being the “father of the bride” with also trying to capture a few of the day’s memories in photos. I almost left it at home, but decided last minute to take it and was very glad I did! Despite my “big camera and lens” I don’t believe I was too obtrusive and in retrospect was very happy with the end results. Here are just a few of the pictures I took throughout the day. There are a couple (that include me) that I obviously didn’t take. I was more than happy to give my camera away and let others have some fun behind the lens as well.
This couple stood out to me and while I was busy with my own family, I was able to take this picture. I had no idea who they were at the time, but later learned they were David’s grandparents. I only wish I would have taken more time to talk to them as they both have had a very distinguished past. From Lillian to me: “Dr. Ursula Rolfe is a badass physician who had to flee Nazi Germany to Holland and eventually came to America where she went to medical school as a single mother of 4 (her husband passed away). She ended up on the faculty of Stanford being an attending physician who taught about pediatrics. I believe she is 92, but I can double-check.
Dr. Monroe Strickberger is 95 years and is a lifelong world-renowned scholar. He was born in the Jewish slums of New York. He was a pioneer in early genetics, with his early work with drosophila (I believe also at Stanford). His textbooks were used for many years (the last edition was in 2005) and he still is a lifelong learner (he is using his retirement to write a book about early Christianity) I met them both 6ish years ago and while at their house I helped David make them spaghetti and meatballs which they loved (apparently Monroe still talks about how delicious they are).”
I was disappointed to find this out after the wedding as I spent several post-graduate years in a Ph.D. program in Immunology and Microbiology and talking with him would have been one of the highlights for me.
The wedding ceremony itself really was perfect and honestly very brief. The rain stopped, the families lined up, filed into the outside courtyard, and sat down to watch the exchanging of the vows. Loki, their dog was the ring bearer and was even dressed in a bowtie for the occasion.
