{"id":52,"date":"2008-01-31T15:58:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-31T15:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=52"},"modified":"2010-10-21T18:00:13","modified_gmt":"2010-10-22T01:00:13","slug":"wherein-our-author-catches-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wherein-our-author-catches-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Wherein our Author Catches Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he wedding was beautiful.<\/p>\n

But I get ahead of myself.<\/p>\n

My parents arrived from Chicago on Sunday the 20th and stayed with us for a week. We put them to work: my Dad was the consummate chauffeur, particularly to the airport as other folks flew in. My Mom did our flowers, and they were fantastic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

My sister flew in from Wisconsin on Wednesday, and Jason from Los Angeles on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Pistachio House came to resemble a madhouse. Work on the dresses (hand made) and flowers and all the hundred other little details you don’t think about continued throughout the house throughout the week. At one point we had seven people sleeping under our roof.<\/p>\n

There were certainly moments where the whole thing seemed on the verge of coming unraveled. My parents’ rental car got a flat, which was fairly entertaining. Francine and my Mom were in an auto accident – nothing serious, mind, but the car was totaled. Worse, I think, was that Francine’s niece broke her foot while they were cleaning up after the reception.<\/p>\n

And don’t get me started on the bells fiasco.<\/p>\n

The day of the wedding dawned cold and clear. The gentlemen began the day with a shave at the local barber college, something I heartily recommend to all and sundry. Such luxury! My friend Jason prepared me a delicious breakfast of almost-but-not-quite traditional eggs benedict, and then it was off to prepare the reception venue.<\/p>\n

We decided early on a 1920s theme and stuck with it. We wanted to evoke a sort of timelessness, the idea of a moment outside of the normal flow of ordinary things. I think we succeeded – and Fr Bryan’s homily during the Mass spoke to this quite eloquently.<\/p>\n

There are literally thousands of photos, so it will take us some time to sort through.<\/p>\n

For you liturgy geeks (there’s at least one in every crowd), the ceremony was the Catholic Nuptial Mass according to the Ordinary Use of the Roman Rite with correct chant propers, Kyrie<\/em>, etc. I made booklets so folks could participate correctly – an important item when most of your friends are not Catholic.<\/p>\n

I was ridiculously ill at ease when the Mass started, but the moment I saw Francine, it was as if a veil lifted from my heart. It was easy after that.<\/p>\n

The reception was planned mostly by Francine and her “best woman” Mel. Words cannot do justice to the event. You’ll have to wait for the photos.<\/p>\n

And there are a lot of them.<\/p>\n

Although we are sending out a pile of thank you notes, I would like to take this moment to thank those who attended and shared our joy on the day from the bottom of my heart. I also thank those who wished us well in this forum and others. You folks are beautiful!<\/p>\n

\"At<\/p>\n

Today, I have my first real job interview in months, and I’m very hopeful. Prayers, well-wishes, and general good vibes actively encouraged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wedding was beautiful. But I get ahead of myself. My parents arrived from Chicago on Sunday the 20th and stayed with us for a week. We put them to work: my Dad was the consummate chauffeur, particularly to the airport as other folks flew in. My Mom did our flowers, and they were fantastic. My sister flew in from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-francine-my-love","category-moments-in-time","category-vocation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-Q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107753,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-gathering-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":0},"title":"The Gathering, 2023","author":"Thom","date":"19 April 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"years ago, Francine and I took our Hospitalero training at the annual Gathering of American Pilgrims on the Camino in South Lake Tahoe. It was quite the adventure, what with a blizzard, driving down a mountain in the snow, and finally the beginning of the Plague. When we got back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-04-15-17.08.28-copy-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-04-15-17.08.28-copy-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-04-15-17.08.28-copy-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-04-15-17.08.28-copy-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-04-15-17.08.28-copy-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87514,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/reason-438-why-i-love-my-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":1},"title":"Reason 438 why I Love my Wife","author":"Thom","date":"01 August 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"in both the Extraordinary Form and the Benedictine Ordo is the Memorial of the Seven Holy Maccabees. Their story may be found in the Bible - provided you've got a Catholic or an Orthodox one. Martin Luther removed these books from his Bible - so if you don't know their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Francine my love"","block_context":{"text":"Francine my love","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/francine-my-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Thom-and-Francine-parish-bbq-2016.jpg?fit=582%2C582&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Thom-and-Francine-parish-bbq-2016.jpg?fit=582%2C582&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Thom-and-Francine-parish-bbq-2016.jpg?fit=582%2C582&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109620,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/francines-final-camino\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":2},"title":"Francine’s Final Camino","author":"Thom","date":"21 June 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Francine passed to God at just after midnight on June 21. On behalf of our family, I ask for your continued prayers. Requiem \u00e6ternam dona eis, Domine,et lux perpetua luceat eis. Grant her eternal rest, O Lord,and may everlasting light shine upon her. Our family thanks all those who supported\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Francine my love"","block_context":{"text":"Francine my love","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/francine-my-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/obit-photo.jpg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/obit-photo.jpg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/obit-photo.jpg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/obit-photo.jpg?fit=874%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109714,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-different-assumption\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":3},"title":"A Different Assumption","author":"Thom","date":"15 August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year on this date, my beautiful bride Francine and I celebrated our twentieth Catholic anniversary. For that anniversary, I wrote an article called \"How the Assumption Saved my Life\", which delved into the history and meaning of this date for Francine and me. Why \"Catholic anniversary\"? On the 15th\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Francine my love"","block_context":{"text":"Francine my love","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/francine-my-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/462588746_10160433017090382_7755078612534786218_n.jpg?fit=360%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28031,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-thanksgiving-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":4},"title":"A Thanksgiving Death","author":"Thom","date":"22 November 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"My parents are visiting for a week, and this morning my father and I attended a beautiful Thanksgiving Day Mass at Holy Rosary. 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