COVID changed almost everything.
It changed work.
It changed travel.
It changed how people gathered.
It even changed weddings.
Paige and Marco were supposed to get married during a time when the world was still trying to decide what was allowed and what was not.
Lisa would have preferred a normal venue.
I understood that.
That was what wedding venues were for.
But the venue told her we could not have the wedding there with the number of guests we wanted.
They could still cater it.
They just could not host it.
So we found our own venue.
Our house.
I loved that property.
I thought it was beautiful.
To me, the front yard was already perfect for a wedding.
It had space.
It had privacy.
It had the feeling of being tucked away from the rest of the world.
COVID had created a problem.
But when I looked at that yard, I did not see a problem.
I saw a solution.
We rented the pretty white chairs.
We rented an arch.
We rented tents to make sure the ceremony would go well no matter what the weather decided to do.
We rented a DJ.
We rented a dance floor and put it in the driveway.
We had a bar and a bartender set up in the pole barn.
The venue could still cater the food, so in the end we had almost everything a wedding venue would have provided.
Except this was better.
This was ours.
We even rented trailers and had them placed in the backyard for guests.
I wired electrical to them myself.
That was the kind of thing I liked doing.
If there was a problem, I wanted to build the answer.
For a few days, the property stopped being just a house.
It became a place for everyone.
People came from out of town.
Family came.
Friends came.
My brothers came.
Lisa's family helped.
Lisa's sister Lori came and helped with the wedding.
My buddy Brandon was there.
Lisa's friends were there.
For that weekend, the place was full of people we loved.
Marco had already become part of life on that property before the wedding.
He would mow the lawn.
I think he actually liked doing it.
He helped split firewood too.
We had built up an incredible amount of firewood, and I had installed a wood burner in the basement where Paige and Marco lived.
By then, Marco was not just some young man Paige was marrying.
He was already part of the daily rhythm of the house.
He helped.
He showed up.
He was becoming family before the ceremony ever made it official.
COVID affected his family too.
His brother was supposed to come and be his best man, but because of COVID he could not be there.
So I stepped in.
I became Marco's best man.
That was not something I expected.
But it felt right.
If his brother could not stand beside him, then I would.
My relationship with Brad was still good back then, and I asked him to play guitar for the ceremony.
He did.
There was something beautiful about that.
My son playing guitar while Paige got married in our front yard.
That is one of those memories I am glad I have.
Cheryl was there too, standing with Paige as her maid of honor.
Cheryl's daughter had a friend who performed weddings as a source of extra income, and he turned out to be awesome.
Everything about the day had that feeling.
People stepping in.
People helping.
People filling whatever role needed to be filled.
That was how the whole wedding came together.
Not because everything went according to some perfect plan.
Because everyone helped make it work.
Right before the ceremony started, I had a beer in my hand.
I was walking to take my place as the best man when Lori saw me.
She looked at me and said, "Don, lose the beer."
I did not argue.
I did not even think about it.
I immediately threw it into what I thought was a hidden spot by the house and kept walking.
Only later did I realize I had thrown it into one of the basement window wells.
That mattered because our basement windows in Michigan were normal basement windows, and those window wells often had frogs living in them.
During the wedding, some of the boys found the frogs.
Being boys, they decided to collect them.
And of all the things they could have used, they used the beer can I had thrown down there before the ceremony.
So while the adults were dealing with music, food, dancing, and everything else, the kids were collecting frogs in my discarded beer can.
That may be one of the most honest memories from the whole day.
It was beautiful.
It was funny.
It was imperfect.
It was real.
The ceremony itself was everything I hoped it would be.
The front yard looked beautiful.
The white chairs were lined up.
The arch stood at the front.
Family and friends sat together in the yard.
Brad played guitar.
Marco stood there waiting.
Paige became a wife.
For all the things COVID had taken from people, it did not take that day from us.
After the ceremony, the property became alive in a different way.
The driveway became a dance floor.
The pole barn became a bar.
The tents became gathering places.
The trailers in the backyard gave people a place to stay.
Every part of the property had a purpose.
Adults danced.
Kids explored.
People laughed.
Food was served.
Drinks were poured.
Music carried across the yard.
It was not a small compromise wedding forced on us by COVID.
It was a real wedding.
In some ways, it was better than anything a venue could have given us.
Because no venue could have made it feel like home.
Philip was there too.
He was already fighting cancer.
We knew that.
He knew that.
But that day, cancer did not get to be the center of the story.
Philip had a drink.
Philip danced.
Philip was Philip.
That is how I remember him from that day.
Not in a hospital bed.
Not weakened by what would come later.
On the dance floor.
Alive.
Part of the celebration.
Later, after I moved back to Texas, I would travel back to Michigan and watch him die in the hospital.
That is a hard thing to write.
It is even harder to remember.
But when I think of Philip, I do not want the hospital to be the only image I keep.
I want to remember him at that wedding.
Having a drink.
Dancing.
Being surrounded by family.
For one night, cancer did not win.
Looking back now, I understand why that wedding means so much to me.
It was not just because Paige and Marco got married.
That was important, of course.
But it was more than that.
It was one of those rare moments when so many people I loved were gathered in one place.
My son was playing guitar.
My in-laws were helping.
My brothers had come.
My friends were there.
Lisa's friends were there.
Philip was dancing.
Kids were catching frogs.
The yard was full.
The driveway was full.
The pole barn was full.
The house was full.
For one weekend, that property held almost everything that mattered.
Everybody was there.
I think I am lucky.
Even with all the pain I have had, I have also had many moments of joy.
That wedding was one of them.
Life does not have to be easy to be good.
Mine certainly has not been easy.
But that day was good.
It was beautiful.
It was family.
It was joy.
And I am grateful I got to have that moment in time.