Eight Years Ago Today

December 8, 2001.

That was the day Farida Hussain married Jason Hunter Wilks.

It was at once one of the happiest and yet one of the saddest days of my life.

I was happy for Farida and have always liked Jason. Even before the wedding I felt that he was family. Since then I've often told him he's my favorite son-in-law. He responds that he knows that's true--because he's my ONLY son-in-law. I do love him dearly, though. He's a blessing in our lives. And Jason's family has embraced us, as well. I can't say enough about how welcomed into their world they all made us feel.

I was sad because shortly after their wedding, Farida and Jason would return to Orange County to load up their possessions and head for Tulsa, OK, where Jason would enter flight school to become a pilot. It was a great opportunity for him but hard for li'l ol' selfish me because I'd never been further than a five-hour drive from either one of my daughters. Since I'd moved to Bass Lake, I didn't see either Farida or Nasreen as often as I'd like, but it was comforting to know that I COULD if either they or I were willing to make the journey.

The wedding, held at ECCO, was incredibly beautiful, and we were surrounded by friends and family. Farida, Jason and Jason's family arrived the Thursday prior, so they'd have time to organize the wedding. It gave us all time to get to know each other, as well.

Farida had worked incredibly hard on this wedding. She'd not only created her own dress, she'd also sewed those of her bridesmaids and flower girl. She and Jason did everything possible themselves.

We'd originally wanted to do an outdoor ceremony but opted instead for a ceremony inside Sumner Walters Chapel because there was a possibility of inclement weather. Instead, Saturday, December 8, was amazingly warm. I think the temperatures ranged in the high 70's.

The wedding itself was an amalgam of Farida and Jason's tastes and beliefs. They did a handfasting, a Native American blessing offered by Mono tribal chairman Ron Goode and a ceremony they created themselves, officiated by Stella Pizelo.

Friends and family came up to me later and remarked about how beautiful and unusual it was.

During the reception we had the opportunity to visit with friends from near and far, including people I hadn't seen in years. Special among the guests were Farida and Nasreen's Auntie Safia and Uncle Nayyir, who were able to arrange their United States visit to accommodate the wedding. Longtime friends Stan and Stephanie Stanislaus attended, as did Farida and Nasreen's childhood friend Carisa, with her husband and son, Devin, and her mother. my good friend, Pat. Nasreen's friend, Cindy Diaz, brought her daughter Sierra to be flower girl.

In addition to the gorgeous wedding cake created by Laura Zabicki of Sweet Dreams Cakery, Jason's grammy brought along her famous lemon cake. I'd wager the lemon cake was the better of the two!

I stayed at ECCO with Nasreen that night. The next morning we awoke to snow falling. It was not a major storm, just enough to coat the trees and leave perhaps an inch on the ground.

It's hard to imagine how the wedding could have been more perfect.