I Do

This evening, I went to a wedding here in Toronto of an old family friend. Quick story of how I know the groom Tim: Our families have been pretty tight for a long time, dating back to my years spent in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In our family, we have 3 kids. In their family, they have 3 kids as well where the eldest were around the same age, the middle kids around the same age, and the youngest 2 around the same age. During the holidays, we would frequently take family trips together all over the place, which made for some really great memories. And today, I got to celebrate a special day for someone who is like family to me. Not only did I get to witness the ceremony and join in on the reception festivities, there were a few notable surprises worth sharing. Here they are:

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Tim's wife, Carrie, spent much of her life here in Toronto before moving to Hong Kong. Prior to the wedding, I did not know that she went to a church where a bunch of my friends also attend. So imagine my surprise when at the ceremony, I look around the church and see people that I know!! I saw my friend Don and his wife (I've forgotten her name...I'm such a loser...), and Allen, Kay and their 8 month old daughter Kara, who was whipping up a storm with her excitement. That totally brought a smile to my face.

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Up until today, I have never met Carrie, even though she was in Toronto the same time I was living in Toronto. Is that weird? I dunno, but I'm glad to finally meet the woman who has agreed to share life with my good friend.

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I met some new people who were really nice and interesting. In many of the weddings I've been to in the past, I don't usually meet many people because I'm hanging out with other family members. But since the only real family I had was my parents, I didn't have a choice but mingle, lest be bored to death. I'm so glad I mingled.

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I managed to get a pair of new shoes at the wedding!! Now, before you go on and judge me for being the sneaker pimp that I am, lemme tell you the story.

Tim happened to get a pair of new Puma sneakers from one of his clients from work. Unfortunately for him, the color and style wasn't to his liking, so he was planning on chucking them into the back of his closet and letting them die a slow, painful death. At around the same time, my parents were in Hong Kong and saw the shoes Tim got and very nonchalantly said 'Oh, Kevin would like those shoes. He likes crazy colors like that.' Being the amazing guy Tim is, amidst all the chaos and ruckus, he brought the shoes all the way from Hong Kong for me!! When his brother brought them out of the closet, it was love at first sight.



All in all, it was a really great evening seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and watching two people whose love for one another was so apparent make the public commitment to love, care and grow old together.

And finally, here are some pictures of the lovely couple for your viewing pleasure. (FYI, the last 2 pictures are from a traditional Chinese tea ceremony that is typical at Chinese weddings. Although Tim and Carrie's wedding was a "Western" wedding, they decided to include this into their celebration.)