Today we attended our friends, Debbie and Steve’s wedding celebration at Shepherdsfield Event Venue in Sisters, Oregon. The weather was beautiful if a bit windy at 1:00 pm when we got there. The wind was good news as it blew smoke away from the event. When the wind died down the smoke rolled in, and we left as I was having difficulty breathing.
I caught this photo of Debbie, and her daughter Molly, that
another photographer had staged.
It was lovely to see Debbie and Steve, our niece Molly, two
of Debbie’s family members we have met before – Barbara (Debbie’s sister) and
Donna (Debbie’s sister-in-law. We only caught Donna at the end as she came over
to say hi when she saw we were leaving. Barbara and I visited for a bit,
earlier in the afternoon, before she headed off to corral her grandchildren.
We met some new folks also. One asked us to look her up when
we get to Bend the next time as she would like to spend more time with us. I
enjoyed a visit with her, she and Debbie have been friends since 1993 – the same
year Joe and I first met Debbie. M and Debbie worked with teens in trouble.
Debbie as a counselor, M as a group home direct support caretaker for the
youth.
Joe spent time with Ryan, Molly’s husband, talking about
welding and finding out how much land would be best if we wanted to raise a cow
for meat purposes. Don’t ask. Ryan, a nurse, has an interest in welding as a hobby.
He knows cows as he was an animal science major in college and helps on a local
farm on the weekends. Local being Talent, Oregon near Ashland.
We also met Randy. A friend that Debbie and Steve met at a
campground in 2021 during COVID. During COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, to get
out of the house, Randy went camping. Steve and Debbie did the same. They met
and became fast friends.
After an afternoon meal was served, Debbie and Steve spoke a
vit about their private May 28, 2023, wedding and how they determined whether
to marry at all at their age. Debbie shared that they read a lot about marriage,
read poems, and listened to music to help them decide their next step. In the
end marriage won as they wanted to come home at the end of the day and know
someone was there to love. The toast was to all their guests. “You are here
today because each of you have touched our hearts and lives in a positive way.
Thank you for being here.” It was perfect and authentic.
Steve then shared one of his favorite stories of Debbie
while they were dating. On their third date, he had invited her to his place
for dinner and a movie. They talked all through dinner, pushed their plates
aside, and continued to talk. After a while, they stood up to watch the movie,
one of them glanced at their watch, it was midnight! They talked for 6 hours
without checking the time. Steve said that before he could say anything, Debbie
became agitated and blurted out, “Steve, you are supposed to let someone know
when they have overstayed their welcome.” She gathered her stuff and left
immediately. Steve said he never got to say a word before she was gone. His
thought though was, “I want to get to know this woman better!”
After the toast, there was dancing and an open wine and beer
bar. Joe and I stayed until the smoke rolled in. We were both delighted to have
been here for the celebration.
We leave Bend tomorrow morning and head for Woodland, California. One last photo from Bend that made me smile. A mural about a block from our hotel:
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