General Discussion

We had been together for more than seven and a half years. My brother‘s girlfriend was from Japan, and was eager to join him in northern Virginia, where we were originally from. Getting married was the easiest solution for them, and they went through the paperwork and set a date.

When the date and place (Arlington, Virginia) were firm, he tracked me down to our Boston office and asked me if I wanted to be best man at a wedding. I said sure! and said I would ask my girlfriend in Germany if she could make it, too. My brother spontaneously said, „well if you both are gonna be there, we might as well make it a double wedding.“ Not only did that sound like a cool idea, but I thought „no arrangements!“ I said I would call her in Germany right away.

So I called my then-girlfriend, and told her that my brother and his girlfriend would be getting married in Virginia the next spring, and did she think she could make it? She said absolutely, and there was mo way she would miss it. I then told her his idea about the double wedding idea, whereupon she said, “works for me.” Don’t forget, after nearly eight years together, it’s not like we were strangers taking a big risk. The biggest laugh of the reception night came when my best man remarked, “I know many of you think by they are rushing into this.” The truth was more that some people, including my wife’s parents, were wondering if we were going to get married before or after reaching retirement age.