我常說﹕我有一個獨生女和兩個獨生子。

雖然他們的個性﹑才智﹑興趣都不一樣﹐但都是我的寶貝。

如今男婚女嫁﹐我已完成做父母的責任。

上星期四舉行婚禮預習﹐聽到即將結婚的未來媳婦跟她的母親說﹕

結婚以後﹐我就改姓周了!

上星期六完成婚禮﹐我多了個女兒。

小兒子誕生的時候﹐哥哥姐姐已經上小學了﹐所以在學校裡他一直有兄姐護著。在家裡做功課也有兄姐罩著。我們為了給孩子們一個健康的成長環境決定轉換跑道棄學從商﹐雖然經濟上有更多的自由與獨立﹐相對的投在工作上的時間卻越來越多得不可思議。所以這小兒子的中文很差﹐即使跟父母說中文也要先造句才發言。

不過﹐孩子們上學都是堅持自已開車接送﹐老師家長會議也按時出席﹐季節性假期向來都帶到世界各地遊歷以廣見聞。

十年前﹐他們的父親病情加重之後﹐我必須全副精神照護病人﹐小兒子的事幾乎都是女兒和大兒子在管﹐他們的父親臨終也特別囑咐三人要相親相愛﹑互相幫助﹐孝順母親。

丈夫去世這八年來﹐都是孩子們在照顧我﹐小兒子也是自已在努力成長﹐學習﹑工作﹑交友﹐凡有事情都是先跟兄姐商量﹑求援。

這場婚禮也不例外。訂婚後﹐他們陸續儲存了些婚禮費用。由於他倆綿密的人脈﹐無論是餐飲鮮花﹑場地安排等等﹐幾乎都是半買半送。加上依美國習俗﹐女方家長也簽了幾個大號的帳單。我偶而過問﹐他們都請我放心﹐所以﹐我的任務只需整肅儀容﹐準時出席。

不﹐還有﹐兒子說﹐要跟我跳一隻舞。

婚禮及餐會之後﹐舞會的前三隻舞﹕新郎新娘-新娘與父親-新郎與母親…這個洋規矩我見過。

不過之前因為一來爸爸身體不好﹐二來爸爸個性低調﹐大兒子和女兒的婚禮都簡約隆重沒有舉辦舞會﹐爸爸也不會跳舞。所以﹐在我的人生中﹐這也是一隻很鄭重的舞。

曲名﹕ Stand By Me.

與眾不同的是﹐這個婚禮﹐由女兒福證。

越來越多的人選擇敦請親人或友人取代牧師來主持婚禮。在我們的社會裡也是﹐除了宗教式的婚禮外﹐依傳統都是邀請敬重的老師﹑長官﹑鄉紳來證婚。大約是五月份一次家庭餐聚時﹐小兒子鄭重的向姐姐提出這個請求。

在美國﹐人民可以上網取得非宗派教會的合法任命﹐主持結婚儀式﹑簽署結婚證書。做為長姐﹐女兒準備的證婚詞也更為貼切動人。她告慰未能等到此日的父親﹐也特別感謝遠方未克參加的親人和朋友所寄來的祝福。

在準備證詞時﹐她曾經訪問了新人和他們最好的友人﹐發現在朋友們和他們彼此之間互相吸引的情感﹐是一種幽默與快樂的共鳴。有一位小兒子以前的女同事說﹕我喜歡他﹐因為他聽得懂我講的笑話。他就像我女朋友中的一個。

喜宴中﹐除了媳婦的奶奶和雙親(住在西雅圖近郊)﹐還見到了從阿肯色州專程來參加外孫女婚禮的外公和外婆。老先生倒是對這個外孫女婿滿熟悉的。因為兩小曾經數度拜訪老人家﹐還表演做中國菜呢! 令老人家印象深刻的是﹐菜做到一半﹐兒子打電話回西雅圖和媽媽討論“下一步”該怎麼辦?

婚禮的地點﹐選在聯合湖最南端。有西雅圖地標太空針塔和工業歷史博物館作背景﹐天氣清朗帶些微風﹐面對著微波盪漾的湖光山色﹐至親好友共聚一堂﹐更顯得喜氣洋洋。

先和大家分享女婿率先e-mail寄來用手機拍的照片﹐(職業攝影師的照片還沒有寄來)。

小兒子挽著親家母和媽媽, 外公外婆觀禮

新娘由父親帶入

周曉晴證婚

小兒子的誓言﹕

David:
To the love of my life, as I look into your eyes, before our family, friends and those so special to us here, I David take you Alisha as my wife, in friendship and in love, to share the good times and misfortune, in achievement and failure, so to celebrate life with you forevermore. I vow to be strength in times of weakness, compassion in times of sorrow, laughter in times of sadness. I promise to forever be next to you in the bar seat we call life, and look forward to walking down this path we come upon with passion and joy, as we write the next chapter in this book of love.

女兒的證詞﹕

Hsiao-ching:
....
Let us acknowledge loved ones who could not be here today.
David is the youngest of three and our father, David Sr., died long before he could celebrate this day with
our mother, Ellen, and
Alisha's parents Domingo and Beverly.
We honor him and all others who would have wanted to be here to shower Alisha and David with joy and love.
.....
If I may offer some sisterly advice to you both: Grand gestures can be romantic and memorable. But life's truths are burried in the fine print. Dive deep into the fine print. Become intimate with the nuances of how the puzzle pieces of your lives interlock and your marriage will stay strong. Cook together often. A little sizzle here, a little sizzle there. You will learn a lot.
.....
[Vows and exchange of rings]
.....
By the power vested in me by the Almighty Internet,
I now present David and Alisha Chou.

附錄﹕(如何上網取得合法任命為親友證婚)

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