Congrats Dave and Lisa

I’m back from my 48-hour jaunt to Memphis and back! Does it sound terribly snooty to say that I hopped the pond to visit friends in the ‘States just for the weekend? I hope not. Although on the surface I will admit that it sounds a little crazy to spend all that time and money to journey halfway across the globe only to return a few hours later, in retrospect I’m incredibly glad that I went. Weddings are important events, and I can’t think of any wedding I’ve attended that I’ve regretted going to, and there are more than a few weddings of good friends I’ve felt guilty not attending. And if nothing else, the opportunity to “let down my guard” and speak English all weekend long was truly paradisical.

A good chunk of my close friends from my residency in Philadelphia were there (pictured above are myself, Ellen, Sara, Dave (the groom), Matt, Jeff, Helen, George, and Suzanne). It was the first “black tie” wedding I’ve been to and although it was a major hassle obtaining a tuxedo overseas, I think you’ll agree that the menfolk looked damned sexy in their formalwear.

I was also asked to be one of the witnesses for the ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract. The finished hand-painted document is shown below (if you squint hard you can even make out my signature, in both English and Hebrew characters) and is quite beautiful. A neat tradition of the Jewish wedding which is perhaps second only to lifting up the bride and groom in a chair and carrying them around. I think this practice is such fun that it should undoubtedly be expanded to weddings of all denominations.

More Memphis photos to come later in the week. For now, our French Expression for the Day is "Jamais deux sans trois", which means "Never two without three. Which I suppose is akin to our expression "Good things come in three."