Florida vs Queensland

We've now been in Florida for about eleven days. It's where Heather grew up, and her parents still live here. Last weekend we had our second wedding party, which was organised by Heather's parents, Rosemary and Gordon, and held at the very party-friendly house of their minister, Harris. It was a lovely celebration, particularly because Rosemary was so excited and proud. Her enthusiasm is infectious, so it was a lovely, merry night. Harris performed a short ritual to bless our marriage, and gave us sugar to make our union sweet, and salt to give it flavour. We also smashed glasses; I was intially concerned about this because I was wearing my somewhat expensive Camper shoes, but no harm came to them in the end. From his wheelchair, Heather's nonagenarian grandfather, Ted, made a toast to wish us a happy life together. It was all just delightful.

Being away from my family for the wedding and the Christmas period has been difficult. We will, of course, have another party when we return to Brisbane, but it looks as though my mum won't be coming. My brothers, sister-in-law, and Dad will be coming, but not mum. She has been ill for a long time, and doesn't like to travel. Dad will drive down with one of my brothers, but Mum doesn't want to do that. She could catch a plane, but she says she needs to stay home to look after the pets. Whenever I offer a solution, she offers counter arguments.

Seeing Rosemary's excitement and enthusiasm about the wedding has been lovely, but it also saddens me a little, because my mother can't offer that. Rosemary is taking the wedding seriously, I think, and my mum is still in denial. While same-sex marriage is still illegal in Australia, I think mum will see this as a pretend wedding. It seems that she can disregard the sentiment, the commitment, the symbolism of our wedding, as long as the legality is in question. I have to get to a point where I really don't want or need my parents' acceptance. Because all of this waiting is wearing me out.