I emailed Drew beforehand: "Are you going to gallop into your wedding on a horse, in a white flowing poet shirt, like Napoleon Dynamite??"
"Hilarious!" he replied, "No."
I thought my question was legitimate, given the venue. His bride is from Aberdeen, Idaho; her family home sits down the road from a little farmhouse we lived in, temporarily, during the winter of 1978. My parents bought a plot in the next town over, American Falls, and several months later a semi-truck eased its way onto Teton Avenue and deposited our new Boise Cascade home at number 830. These days you see most prefab homes moving down the road in halves, on two trucks, but this house came all in one piece.
We moved in soon after, but drove back to Aberdeen constantly to worship with a large group of friends. We knew Elaine's family from church; she was born the year we left for Seattle, when I was twelve.
Drew's wedding was a wonderful time for me. Not only was a great guy marrying a lovely girl, but I got to re-visit the place of my happy childhood, and see many old friends. Besides, I got to show the Total Package my old town, not to mention the boys.
A sugar beet field beside the Bonebrake's house. The famous Idaho wind was blowing, so the sprinklers misted us during the wedding feast.
To the other side was a potato field. My sons aren't familiar with agricultural matters. Happy Meal didn't know that potato plants require deep watering, so when his cousin Amelia tried to kiss him, he ran into the field and lost his shoe in the mud.
Elaine's grandpa Frank helped the newlyweds depart. Antique John Deere tractors are Frank's particular specialty.
The Total Package and I are oldlyweds, but Drew and Elaine's wedding made us remember being married fifteen years ago, and what fun we had, and what fun it's been.
