Wedding in the Bahia

February 26, 2023 is sure to go down in history as fantastic day! Roger had been here in San Carlos for the past month or so and we were busy planning my move to Netarts as well as a wedding here.  The day dawned bright and beautiful with a gorgeous Bahia blue sky (and just a little wind, which is normal.)  We celebrated a very understated wedding at San Carlos Community church.  The ceremony literally followed the regular church service with Pastor Chuck announcing at the conclusion of the service that "if you want to wait about 10 minutes, there will be a wedding here, followed by cake!"  We were very surprised how many people stayed (maybe it was the promise of cake 😏).

There must have been close to 150 people there.  Of course, I cried throughout the short ceremony, but Roger was handsome and stoic with his wonderful smile.  We exchanged our beautiful pearl rings from the Perlas del Mar in Guaymas.  What a wonderful memory those rings will have, especially given the fact that Roger bought his back in June when he came to visit for the first time and fell in love with the pearls here (and me).  Who knew that it would become his wedding ring?  We made several trips back to the Pearl Farm since last June, taking friends for a visit, and working with Fernando

 Guzman there to create this ring.  He is another fond memory as he is probably the most energetic person ever and went out of his way to make sure that this ring was not only perfect, but arrived in time for the wedding.   

The reception was held here in the Bahia, courtesy of Caroline Durand.  She made her beautiful backyard available to us and it was the absolute best setting with the blue waters of the Bahia shining off the back of the yard.  It was most unfortunate that Caroline was stuck in Tucson with medical appointments and was unable to make the reception.  She was sorely missed, especially since I was unable to say a proper good bye to her and thank her for not only her friendship, but also for being such an amazing landlady.  

The "Bahia Buddies" were largely responsible for the success of the reception.  Greg and Laurie were indispensable in helping prepare the house.  They house sat there for a month so knew right where everything was.  Connie was the "wedding planner" and made a beautiful cake for the reception.  The guests provided the appetizers and their own beverages and Roger and I provided the champagne for the toast.  The only thing I would have changed would be to pour the champagne earlier in the afternoon, as it definitely loosened everyone up to dance!

It was not only an amazing reception, but also a beautiful send off as I moved to Oregon 3 days later. I will never forget the friends I made in San Carlos!  They have become, in a very short time, some of the most endearing friends ever.  It was a community, the Bahia Buddies, in the truest sense as we looked out for one another and they were definitely an encouragement to me through some of the most difficult times ever.

New Beginnings

 

And who would have thought?  A few months before my 30th birthday, Roger and I met.  It was actually a blind date, orchestrated by his cousin, Dan and my former sister in law, Margie.  I was living in San Francisco at the time, working as a service rep for an Insurance Company.  Rog was living in Portland.  Needless to say, we hit it off.  To make a long story short, I ended up moving to Portland and we lived together for a couple of years....until we didn't.  I wish I could tell you the reasons why we broke up, but I'm not fully sure.

Fast forward until 2018 and I have been married 23 years with 3 daughters, then divorced.  I am visiting Portland (from my home in Mexico) to see daughter, Michelle, and had posted pictures on Facebook of my trip.  Roger had "friended" me on Facebook some time before and I had accepted.  Of course, the first thing I checked was his marital status, only to learn he was married.  But he connected with me shortly after my trip to Portland to say that he wished that he had had the nerve to suggest we meet for lunch while I was in Portland.

Another fast forward to September 2021 when his wife of 32 years passed away quite suddenly.  I was stunned.  I had realized some time before that I still cared about him.  Did I still love him?  No way to answer that.  But I did care enough to worry about his welfare and how he was navigating the grief, so I decided to connect with him for every holiday that year.  Facebook messages dissolved into phone calls, which, in turn, dissolved into zoom calls.  At that point, I was planning a trip to Portland the following August and he asked if I'd be willing to get  together for lunch or something.  Of course!  

Sometime in April, I believe, Roger asked me if I would be willing for him to come to San Carlos for a visit. I believe I'd mentioned that he should check it out down here, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect that he would accept the offer.  June was the appointed month, and it threw me into a bit of a panic because I didn't know what to expect,  I had also committed myself to never entering into another relationship following the disaster of my last marriage.  As I would say to my friends "I've done my time".

But, needless to say, the visit dissolved into a relationship rather quickly.  After numerous soul searching conversations, the visit dissolved into a relationship that pretty much picked up where it left off some 38 years ago.  Who would have imagined?  I guess the point is to never say never.