Another check on my bucket list.
I know I have shared this with some of my friends in the dojo and I may have even posted about it earlier this year. My niece and her fiance’ asked me to marry them (to officiate their wedding) which is truly an honor. When they asked me it was completely unexpected; Prior to this I had never expressed any interest in officiating a wedding, obtaining ordainment to officially do so, or any other such matters outside of the wedding to my own wife. Of course I accepted their request with gratitude and am truly excited to be an integral part of their special day.
Over the past months and as we get close to the day (6 days from today!), I have been working on my speech and am working to refine, and practice, my delivery. In some ways it is like practicing kata–there is a predefined and expected flow to the ceremony. But the main difference is I am afforded an opportunity to create my own “flows and movements” within the ceremony itself and in the capacity as the officiant. It is my goal to make this a memorable, very special day for the two of them and all who attend.
As I am working on this and putting things in order, I realize this is something else I can add to my bucket list and say, “yes, I’ve married two special people as an ordained minister.” Add this to the long list of experiences such as my karate training, being a father, husband, having been able to travel to many foreign and distant lands, serve in the U.S. Army as a special operator/paratrooper, run marathons, climb mountains, etc., and it reinforces to me I have to this point lived a good, blessed and meaningful life.