The married couple

The text of the wedding was as beautiful as the brides. The minister, the Rev. LeAnn Hodges, delivered a powerful wedding sermon about love, family, connection, commitment, and the ways we can embody divinity in our love for each other. The brides made heart-stopping vows to each other. Their sons were part of the ceremony, and after they made their vows to each other, each expressed her love for the other's son and asked him if he would consent to her being his mother. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, not that I could see, given that my eyes were swimming. At the reception, one of Kamala's colleagues who has long fought for gay rights, spoke for the many lesbians whose families and communities will not come to dance at their weddings. After that I had to leave the room for a while to recover. Despite that I made over a thousand pictures using three cameras, so I'll be processing for a while to come. Here are two--one of the brides and one of them with their sons--unprocessed, just as they came. And now I'm going to go soak my tired body and my aching feet, and I'm probably going to weep into the tub, remembering beautiful human beings saying beautiful words, feeling deeply the privilege, the honor, and the justice in being able to proclaim their love for each other and be celebrated among their friends and family. Tomorrow I move on to another home in D.C.--another former Smith student and her partner and their daughter. They came to the wedding and sat by me, so we'll have plenty to remember and talk about.