Forever Yours…
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The Evening 6:00 Arrival & Happy Hour (Half) 6:30 Ceremony - "Yes" a Second Time… 7:00 Dinner 8:00 Memories of our 40 years together - Us and our family and friends... 8:30 Dancing: Great Balls of Fire… 10:30 Home again, home again… |
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The Team
Honorees: Barbara & Gordon Nagai Readers: Paul Nagai & Diana Nagai Honored Guests: Y'all… Officiant: Jenny Ruhl DJ: Wendell Davis, Jr. - Golden West Mobile Music, Inc. Photography: Michele Dorntge |
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40th Anniversary Celebration Statement of Intention - Jenny Ruhl, Officiant Thoughts on Celebration (Written by Dana Leavett) - Gordon Nagai CELEBRATION is a moment of true exuberance and joy. Thoughts on Community - Barbara Nagai We are grateful to all of you who are the community in which we reside. You are our family and friends on whom we rely for love, nurturing, and mutual support. You are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. You are a circle of hands that open to receive us, eyes that light up as we come near, voices that celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. You are the arms that hold us when we falter, a circle of healing, a circle of dear friends, a place where we can be free to grow and learn. We thank you for being a part of our lives over the many years… |
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A Reading on Commitment: From "The Velveteen Rabbit" - Paul Nagai & Diana Nagai "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he is always truthful. "When you are REAL you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are REAL, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are REAL you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." |
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Setting - Comments about Two Flowers - Gordon Nagai These two flowers represent the two of us - the Chrysanthemum standing for me and my Japanese heritage, the Red Rose for Barbara and her lineage. Forty years ago, we came together in something not all that common in those days, an inter-racial union. Getting married in itself has its own challenges, so we were adding yet another layer on top of all that marriage brought. We have been very fortunate over the years that this was never a major problem for us as a family. The fact that we started out with many of you as our circle of friends was a major blessing. That you have remained true to us for all these years, you and your families, has made our relationship all the richer for it. Today's celebration is as much an expression of our appreciation to and affection for you, as marking a milestone in our lives. We thank you, and we love you all… Ritual - Jenny Ruhl Exchange of Vows Our Vows Barbara: For asking me 40 years ago to be your beloved, Gordon: For saying Yes 40 years ago to being my beloved, Barbara: In the place of an exchange of rings, or the replacement of rings, we wish to acknowledge, celebrate, and reaffirm you as the circle of friends that has helped us to sustain this union. We look forward to continued mutual support in our years ahead… Closing and Blessing |