u is for unpredictable

as hug-an-engineer day ends and pi day threatens to dawn, i reflect on the messiness of life. (the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter may be a constant, but it is after all an irrational one.)

their flights were delayed, but ioana and dov finally arrived and we sat down to the lovely late supper mom had prepared. cori put on her dress and we helped her choose jewellery. we decided which dress i should wear, too. then the heater broke. also, cori's necklace. so we drank champagne and i mended the string.

there were wee arguments along the way and cori's skin began reacting to the stress, but by now we've all pretty much settled in to bed/couch for the night, supported by the diligent work of some strategically placed space heaters.

"life is messy," i said to cori as i hugged her "good night."

i hope that getting so tangible a reminder of that on the eve of her wedding was as instructive as it was ironic. the truth is that promises like the one corina and james are making tomorrow aren't about an immaculate ideal, but about reality. cori says that, very early on, she told james just that: "i want something real," she said.

fifteen hours from now they will commit to walking through the messiness of that reality together. it occurs to me that you can never know what you're going to face, but you can know who you'll face it with. maybe when you're walking hand-in-hand even a mess can be a beautiful adventure.