Um, Mom, I'm getting married.

I’m in Florida, wow, it’s nice to be in the warm air again. Chicago winters are brutal.

We picked up my youngest daughter and drove up to Palm Harbor. My daughters don’t look like little green beans anymore; somehow they grew up when I wasn’t looking. Before me are two beautiful young women.

Que Dr. Smith “O, the pain!”

The big dinner is tonight. Mom has offered to take us all out for Italian. Somewhere between the salad and the pasta I’ll inform my mom and my youngest daughter about my eloping to Colorado. I’m positive that Cassi has already told my mom about what’s going on, so this shouldn’t be a surprise.

I’m excited about getting married, but nervous about telling my mom. I’m sure that my youngest daughter will be cool with the idea, she’s a great kid, but mom, well, that’s a different story. Just like a bad soap opera, my mom is full of needless drama.

This should be fun.

You would think that your parents should be excited about things. I mean, I waited 39 years to ask a girl to marry me; I’m not exactly rushing into anything here.

The problem is going to be the fact that Nanci and I aren’t having a traditional wedding. We aren’t inviting anybody. We can’t afford it, even if we wanted to. This is just for us, the way it should be. I’m afraid that my mom is going to be offended.

The idea is that Nanci and I will fly into Eagle Colorado. We’ll pick up our marriage license and then drive to Vail Colorado. Somewhere in the mountains between eagle and Vail we will marry ourselves.

In Colorado, you do not need a justice of the peace, priest, or even witnesses. You can do the whole thing yourself, and that sounds like a great idea to us. We aren’t exactly loaded since we moved here, so money is tight and a big wedding is simply out of the question. With this method, Nanci and I can have a romantic wedding and still afford a whopping 3 day honeymoon skiing in Vail.

Sure, the family will miss the Chicken dance and Nanci and I will by short a couple of bread makers, but this is OUR wedding. Isn’t it?

Let’s see how the family takes it.