The Wedding Officiant/Officianado

Friday night I was searching the Internet for wedding officiants in the Birmingham area and came across one that sounded good.  I sent him an email telling him my wedding date and my cell number, hoped he was available, etc.  I had barely hit send when my cell phone rang.  I didn't recognize the number and it was almost 9 p.m so I debated on whether I should answer it or not.  (I do this a lot!)

I decided to answer it just because I thought it might be the officiant, but did he even have time to read the email I just sent?  How could it be?  

Sure enough, it was him.  He said he was booked that day, but had a woman he was working with who could do the wedding.  He noticed my last name and said he had just done a wedding in May for a man who had the same last name and asked if I was related.  

Well yes and no, mostly no now.  He's my ex husband!  Apparently, this officiant, the first one I called, just recently did my ex-husband's wedding.  I laughed.  He said maybe I would rather have his assistant C, do my wedding anyway since he just did my ex's.  I assured him that I didn't care one way or the other, but I did think it was a coincidence.

We made an appointment to meet with him and his assistant, C, today.  They were wonderful. We really liked them a lot.  I had an outline of the things we wanted to include in our ceremony and they offered suggestions.  

We are going to write our own vows, but they said they can help if we needed them too.  We are also going to include a memorial candle lighting in memory of my father and The Murph's mother who have passed away and two readings during the ceremony, if my niece and The Murph's niece will agree to do them.  We probably should have asked them before now!!  

When we were signing the contract to reserve the officiant, I realized that today is Sept. 4.  Sept. 4 was the anniversary of my first marriage to The Boy's dad.   On the anniversary of my first wedding, we were hiring the same officiant (sort of) that my first husband had used to do his third wedding.  And this is my third, although I don't even count the second one, which lasted less than a year.

Does anyone else see the weirdness of this?

On the way home, I was going over the strangeness of it with The Murph.  I told him I thought it was a good sign.   A sign that FINALLY my ex had met his soul mate, who he was spending the rest of his life with, after being with the wrong ones and that I had FINALLY found my soul mate too after being with the wrong ones.

The Murph scoffed at that and said, "Your ex-husband has no soul!!"

Well, he's right about that, so I changed my observation to, "D (my ex) has FINALLY found someone who will put up with him and I have FINALLY found someone to put up with me!!"

The Murph laughed and said,  "Yes!  Now THAT's more like it!"

Then he clarified that he loves me with all his heart and isn't "putting up with me".  I'm easy to "put up with".

Although he does think that my ex will have to have somebody that will put up with him.  That needs no clarification!