Ian Swenson .com

Quite strange, this. I attended my brother’s wedding this morning. I’m writing this of course at nearly 9am, and I already went to my brother’s wedding. He got married to this lovely girl named Jessica. They’ve been seeing each other for quite some time and they figured, “Heck! Let’s get married!”

The whole way there my brother, Ethan, and Jessica were joking about this and that, wondering what it would be like if the judge were a clown. Would he look for a pen and begin pulling a stringed handkerchiefs from his pocket? Would he honk his clown nose while they kiss? These and other less savory musings were flitted about the car on the way to the courthouse.

So I was a “witness” along with Jessica’s sister. We went to the Pierce County Courthouse in south Hilltop Tacoma. Lovely area. If you’re local, you know what I mean. We stood out in the literally freezing wind for about five minutes because the building had yet to open. They were scheduled at 7:45am and the building did not officially open until eight. The judge was supposed to let us in, which, to his credit, he did, but not until after we froze.

We went into the courtroom, my first time ever. We sat on the benches while the judge got into the official raiment and handled the paperwork. Then he came out and announced that a critical piece of paperwork was missing from the envelope Ethan had handed him. Then he shuffled some papers and said, “Whoops! There it is.” He truthfully didn’t notice it, but it still seemed like our clown-judge moment.

The ceremony itself was short and sweet. The standard mumbo-jumbo was said, they aped like monkeys, they smooched and voila they were wed. We then exited to the foyer and took some pictures. All the combinations you could really think of with just four people. Meanwhile people are filing in because the courthouse finally opened, and the beautiful populace of Tacoma were out in force (at least the type that’d visit a courthouse at 8am).

We also noticed a judge list and there was one named Kitty-Ann van Doorninck. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s one funky name. I’d have a hard time calling her “Your Honor.”

Anywho, the real reason behind this post was to ruminate on my youngest brother’s marriage. He’s the first of my parent’s brood to get married even though he’s the youngest. Plus, it kind of came out of nowhere. He called me up three days ago asking me to come, and he’s not even told anyone else in the family. I feel honored, yes, and I love my brother so very much. I also feel empathy for my dad, who I think will be kind of hurt that he didn’t get to see his baby’s wedding, even if it was such a simple affair.

Now it’s got me thinking about life stages too. Not only did Ethan get married, but my other brother, Aaron, is having a baby with his girlfriend. She’s nearly in her second trimester and it won’t be long before I not only have a sister-in-law, but also a nephew or niece. It just seems weird. It seems like everyone is growing up, but I don’t necessarily want it to be that way. It’s just got me thinking, that’s all. More on this later, I’m sure.