The culmination of Saturday's Day for Marriage was a dinner at Cairnwood Estate. While I was not involved in chopping pistachios for the salmon, or selecting the wine to accompany sirloin, I did recruit the six servers and arrange both live music and a magician. A brother and sister team provided classy melodies, sweeping from a Swedish wedding
march to Brazilian duets on violin and guitar. We could not clap loud enough to express our appreciation. The waiters and waitresses were dressed in black and white as they filled our glasses and laid chocolate cake with raspberries before us. They did this not for cash or credit but as an act of service through the club Delta Mu. Astonishing. A boy of eleven arrived to perform table magic, and coerced a deck of cards to be get sucked into a balloon before my very eyes. His own parent's divorce
is a shadow over his childhood and I cherish that he came to shine his shaft of light into our evening, hopefully taking home a portion of marriage love in exchange. A group of singers sprung to their feet to entertain us with a lilting round about falling in love. Conversation, laughter, food, flowers and a turn of the century Victorian mansion all saturated my senses. It brings meaning to the
phrase
my cup runs over.
The entire day was delightful.
The dance by a young girl and three couples made many of us reach for tissues. The opening talk by a medical doctor evoked applause that did not quit. Workshops offered a spectrum of topics, and a chance to connect in a smaller group. For many people this was the heart of the day. Twenty some raffle prizes, including quilts and wall sconces, fresh eggs and paintings, cds and perfume, were scooped up by the excited winners.
While I could not orchestrate who
connected with whom, the effect was undeniable. Over lunch, at breaks, in the halls and browsing through the display of marriage quilts there were clusters of people fully immersed in connection. I stood by while two people got up the nerve to ask what they were wondering.
"Are you Michael?"
"Are you Shannon? I haven't seen you since college!"
People smiled broadly as they walked to their cars with an apple pie made in a
workshop, or as they played with clay at the wheel. Others looked mellow when they emerged from a class on Shia Tsu, or while turning over a new idea in their brain, as if it were a pivotal piece in a puzzle.
"Don't forget in the darkness what you believed in the light."
I will sit down this week to write thank you letters to the staff at Cairnwood, and the babysitters in the children's room, and those who donated. I will send checks to
the woman who made bowls for thank you gifts to the presenters, and the Nature Center that brought live animals for the kids to hold.
But the True Magician worked without compensation of any kind.
