pictures from my dearly departed camera

i guess when you know good people, you can't help but have a wonderful time when they bring all of their friends together for a celebration. this wedding was almost like camp - we stayed in a big old inn, with little cabins and bikes and a pool and beach (admittedly nicer than my girlscout camp, but bear with me). the weekend started off with a lobstah-bake/rehearsal dinner. so, we all met each other - molly and jorge's friends from dartmouth, boston, connecticut, chicago, and elsewhere. then there was a beautiful slide show of both m and j as kids up to adulthood.

normally i HATE this stuff. but to be honest, this was really beautiful. they are such genuine, warm, generous people that an otherwise hokey slideshow became in fact a fun, funny, touching and tear-jerking group conversation about molly and jorge. (with a lot of help from jorge's friend who put together an incredibly synchronized visual/musical montage)

then there was a CAMPFIRE, S'MORES, and a HOTTUB (in which there were definitely some naked people...self not included. i always make it a point to take a bathing suit or two wherever i travel. you never know! this time i brought two. which meant that my friend liz cate and i were sometimes the only suited bodies in the tub).

then the next day, liz and i explored up to wiscasset, maine, to the local strawberry festival. the berries were fabulous. picked that morning in the driving rain, we ate them 3 hours later and had juicy dripping chins. yum. then to the town of boothbay, and then just enough time for a massage before the wedding.

the wedding. by this time, we were all pretty much good friends. and we were part (not just watching, but a part) of a beautiful ceremony that celebrated not only molly and jorge, but also their family and friends. because that's just the kind of people they are. everyone was a part of this. meg ansara read a piece she'd written about how molly and jorge build community and leadership just through their own relationship, and through their friendships with others.

i'll give you an example. i knew 5 people at the start of that wedding, besides the couple. i went to college AND geneva with two of them but we all knew molly and jorge through different ways (tufts, 2020 dems, high school). one of them i knew threw my work at harvard, and she met mj through a completely different activity. i didn't even know she'd be there! two of them i met directly through jorge (and 2020 dems). this is what i mean. they find good people and they bring good people together.

whew. after a beautiful wedding, and a beautiful best man speech by josh (not just funny, but also very touching), there was food and MUCH dancing. and THEN there was the "game room". which had CANDLEPIN BOWLING LANES (i fell in love with it). jesse foote had set up a craps game on the ping pong table. and everyone else was just hanging out. afterward, hot tub.




i've tried to summarize (poorly) how AWESOME this weekend was. i met some great people and had a great time. but most of all, i witnessed two best friends commit themselves to each other and to their community. and i feel so honored to have been a part of that.