“The church and the home are the two most sacred places in our lives,” I read in a book on weddings. The Jewish wedding ceremony uses a huppah (canopy) that is symbolic of the couple’s new home. That's part of the reason why we chose the home of Kate and Ray Frank for our wedding ceremony. It is a home, and one that is already so meaningful to us. Kate and Ray are our Tucson mom and dad. (The day I met Kate - in Milwaukee, weird!- she gave me a copy of Clarissa Pinkola Estes's Women who Run with Wolves right off her bookshelf. How cool is that???) Their home is also symbolic of our life together, since when Andrew and I moved to Tucson, after having dated long distance between Milwaukee and Chicago, the first place we stayed was at Kate and Ray’s. In fact, Kate and Ray encouraged us to get married from the first time they met me, I think!
When Andrew agreed to move to Tucson with me so I could go to grad school, I understood the magnitude of his risk and sacrifice. The gesture and commitment that he made to show me his love in fact only furthered the idea that he would make a good husband! (And he’s handy, too.)
We also chose Kate and Ray’s because of its position in the foothills. Andrew and I being flatlanders, the Tucson foothills really move us. To me, being in and around those peaks is the most spiritual experience. When I hike in those heights to pray and meditate, I hear the wind blowing and my heart beating, the sun glowing in the rocky faces and the huge, blue, Arizona sky. I feel the near and magnificent presence of God.
This is a photo of the view from Kate and Ray's at dusk.
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