September 13, 2008

• A Hymn To Her (and Him I Guess ;-)

   

   And she will always carry on, something is lost but something is found.
  They will keep on speaking her name, something’s change, some stay the same.
  The above video doesn’t work on all versions of Firefox, so if it doesn’t play, try Internet Explorer or click here.
   

  Regular readers of this space know my friend Sabine, or Bine for short.  You know about her resilience, her charm and her joie de vivre.  You might also remember what a tough time she had last year at Virginia Tech.  You know that her inimitable style and always positive attitude have gotten her, and indeed our entire group of friends, through the best and the worst of times.  She is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise polluted world.  She approaches everything she does with passion and fervor, and is the glue that bonds our international family of friends together.  

  What you may not know however, is that she is my wife!  Yes, it’s true.  We were married in a small civil ceremony in Italy on August 19, 2000.    The ceremony was officiated by the great great grandniece of the Red Baron.  Her name was Baroness Andrea Von Richthofen (no kidding!).  Mick was the maid of honor, Miggl the best man and Eva the flower girl.  Now, some background:

  I met Sabine at Marcelo’s house in Piracicaba Brazil in 1997.  That Christmas many people had converged on Marcelo’s family home; both friends of Marcelo (like me) and friends of his sister Adriana.  Many of us did not know each other, but we all soon became great friends, and began our tradition of traveling together for New Year’s each year.  I was “homeless” at the time, traveling the world with my job, all expenses paid.  One day, we were all sitting by the pool in the backyard eating mangoes, and I was telling this assembled group of new friends my life story.  At the end, Sabine said, “Honey, I should marry you.  What a great life you have!”  To which I responded, “Honey, the only way I would ever marry you, is if we were in Florence Italy, at San Miniato at sunset, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio!”  We all laughed.

  Well, as luck would have it, wouldn’t you know that three years later we all found ourselves in Florence, Italy at San Miniato at sunset, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio.  Our friends had bought some truly rinky dink rings on that same famous bridge earlier that day, and as the sun sank into the horizon, we said our “vows“.

  

  

   

  LOL, so there you have it.  The story of my phony wedding in Italy.  Today, Sabine, the two timing tramp, got married to Alan.  In all honesty though, I can’t say that I’ve been entirely faithful in this marriage.   So here’s to you Bine, on your wedding day.  I wish I could be there with you in Denmark to celebrate, but as you know I’m in Orlando all next week on business.  I know that you will have a wonderful day.  You always do.  You il always carry on, and I will always love you.  GLY! xoxo

   

  • 4:05 am
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