“Green is the Colour…”
This past Sunday, in a gorgeous outdoor ceremony, our youngest son, Cameron, got married.
It was a wonderful day. Cameron’s bride, Elizabeth, was beautiful, and shining in that way brides do, her joy simply radiating in all directions. Cameron sported a big grin all day, like he won the lottery (he did). Elizabeth’s joy and Cam’s happiness was infectious. You couldn’t help but smile to see them together.
There’s an old song that’s been rolling around in my head all weekend. Even now it’s burrowing deep and will not relent. I think it’s an old English folk tune (or at least it sounds that way in my brain).
Yet all I can remember is one line, and a partial one at that:
“Green is the colour…da da dah da dah…”
It started when I saw the color of the ties Cameron and his groomsmen were wearing, matching the dresses of the bridesmaids, a lovely pale green.
I never thought to ask why they picked that color. But green has been Cameron’s favorite since he could have one. For years he wore a jacket of good old Crayola green. Other items coded Cameron Green included his toothbrush, his favorite sippy cup, backpack, etc.
I’m thinking I may have my answer.
Almost a year ago I had the honor and privilege of officiating the wedding of Brandon and Taylor. He’s our old oldest son, and it was an incredible day, with the added miracle that I was actually able to make it through the ceremony without making a total blubbering idiot of myself (this last assertion is in contention even to this day).
This past Sunday was the same. Cameron had asked me to officiate, and I was thankful and humbled to be given this great honor.
I gave a disclaimer at the beginning that as Cameron’s father, I would resort to reading my prepared ceremony in an attempt to not break down and cry (yes, I’m one of those guys).
Thank god I wasn’t the only one with ‘allergies.’
Elizabeth and Cameron didn’t want to exchange traditional vows (or even exchange them in a traditional way). So, they decided to write their own, exchanging them in private immediately before the wedding ceremony. Yet they didn’t want to break the tradition of seeing each other before Elizabeth walked the aisle.
We found an outside corner at the back of the reception hall, and the soon-to-be husband and wife were on either side, arms reaching around the edge of the building, hands joined as they made the most uniquely perfect commitments to one another. Thankfully, the photographer was with us, capturing the moment, tears flowing freely all around.
Cameron and Elizabeth asked for a short ceremony, and boy…did I deliver. While no one actually used a stopwatch, it felt like it lasted a cozy three minutes. Mission accomplished!
During the reception, the happy couple had their first dance, followed by Elizabeth and her dad. As the evening progressed, the young bridal party and many friends started burning up the dance floor.
Leading the pack was our boy Cam. Now if you have the joy to know him, you’ll know he is one of the funniest people you could meet. Yes, he was cavorting around like our own version of Jack Black (it was hilarious)… but somewhere along the way, you could see a shift.
Sitting at our table watching him, I had a strange experience. Suddenly I wasn’t in a lodge at a beautiful Tennessee State park.
It was 2009. I was sitting on a curb with Carol in front of Cinderella’s castle in the Magic Kingdom. It was a cold November evening, a day or so past Thanksgiving. It was our final night before ending our week-long vacation, heading home to Thompson’s Station the following morning.
It was late and the huge crowd gathered were waiting for the big parade that ends every evening at DisneyWorld. There must’ve been some kind of technical delay, as we had been waiting for a while.
The teams at Disney are well-trained at turning lemons into magic lemonade. Cast members began working their way through the throng, handing out hula hoops of various sizes to the kids anxiously awaiting the magic.
Colin, Audra, and Cameron jumped at the chance (Colin and Cameron were 13 and 12, and Audra was barely 5, it being her first trip to Disney).
They laughed and hooped and made the most of the moment. But Cameron, wearing his favorite green jacket, really leaned in. You could see the exact second when he just got lost in the joy.
There’s something magical at Disney. Yes, it’s all designed to be that way. But there’s something indescribable as a parent to see your children not see carefully created entertainment, but see magic and believe.
Our kids had a blast, the parade finally began, the evening culminating with a magnificent pyrotechnic display.
I was jolted back to the present and the wedding of our baby boy.
But for a moment, the image of our young boy, green-clad and grinning, was double-exposed with the boy-turned-man, lost yet again in the magic of the moment, grinning that same grin.
I wish there were more places where we could cast off our fear and insecurity, remove all the corners that box us in and constrain us from a life of wonder. Or that we could somehow find the key to that lock to our innermost places, just a simple turn and a click and we could live in joyous abandon.
Perhaps Elizabeth and Cameron know the secret.
Don’t yield without thought to tradition, and make your own. Lean into every moment, getting lost in the wonder and magic that is the life they now get to live together.
GV
