WEDDING SUIT AND "WEEKENDS"

When Germán came back from the U.S. to Ecuador to look for a wife, he brought with him the fabric to have a tuxedo tailor-made down here.  Time went by and the material just sat on the shelf. Then one day, several months later, he decided to go ahead and have the suit made, even if he hadn't met his bride yet. It would be ready for when he did.  The tailor finished the tux and ...and two weeks later Germán met me!

Besides thinking he wouldn't marry an American, Germán had also decided he wouldn't have a long-distance girlfriend.  Well, that soon went out the window, too! Santo Domingo is an almost-three-hour drive from Quito.  So he would come and see me on weekends.  At first he'd come on Friday and return to Quito on Sunday. Then he started coming Thursday and returning Sunday. The he would come Thursday and go back Monday.  Then he'd come Thursday and go back Tuesday...ever lengthening his "weekends"!

One month after we met, we held our "cambio de aros" (ring-exchange), a little ceremony often used in Ecuador to seal/bless an engagement. The spouses-to-be exchange wedding rings, but wear them on the right hand instead of the left (until the wedding). We had ours in church.

Wedding plans were uncomplicated. I had my mother's beautiful wedding dress (that she had made herself), and Germán's tux was ready. An acquaintance who owned a hotel complex told us to go to her gardens and pick all the flowers we needed for the wedding, which was held outdoors.  Other details started falling into place. We were young and adventurous, with no indication or inkling of the health issues that would appear farther down the road to change, challenge and even charm us.

Writing our story, being drawn into its essence once again, I can hear...

                                    ECHOES
          When You're silent, and I'm near You,
          though You're silent, I still hear You in the echoes of the past,
          that lift my heart as I recall
          all the yesterdays You held me, when I thought that I would fall.

          When You're speaking, and I'm listening,
          I can hear the way your voice rings with the echos of the future,
          gentle breezes, rushing winds,
          that draw me into each tomorrow, to where You've already been.
                                                                                                               -Becky Rhon

Join me next week for the continuation: Live Chickens, Pineapples and a Honeymoon Suite!