The wedding toast that I gave at Mike and Rebecca’s wedding on 26 July:
I’m Rudy, one of the groomsmen along with Dave and John. We’ve been friends for absolutely ages. I’ve known Dave for coming up on twenty years; and we’ve known John for… it must be, oh, at least twenty hours now. You’ll notice that we’re getting married in roughly inverse hairline order.
Fifteen years ago, we took pity on Mike… and let him hang out with us and be our friend. We were so young then, barely out of college, and scrabbling to establish our lives and our careers. We didn’t have a lot of material possessions, but we were rich in friendships. I drove a second-hand Toyota Corolla with a defective door handle; Dave drove a Mustang, which I’m still not convinced had any suspension; Mike drove what looked like a hand-me-down Honda Civic, a very sensible car.
When we first met Mike, Dave and I thought, “oh, the poor guy. He’ll never be able to meet anyone to date, let alone get married.” It wasn’t because of where his hairline might be going, nor because he drove a ratty car. It was because when he showed up at his date’s place to pick her up, she could see the decal on his car’s rear window proudly proclaiming that he attended Starfleet Academy. He was quite the geek then.
We’re glad that Mike met Rebecca, who probably has smacked some sense into him. I notice that our tuxedos are very tasteful in black and white. Left to his own devices, I’m sure Mike would have picked Captain Kirk yellow for his tux, and red-shirts for the rest of us groomsmen.
With that being said, I would like to propose a toast that will be right up Mike’s alley, and offer a word of advice. To Mike and Rebecca: live long and prosper, and for goodness sake, don’t let your kid grow up as a space cadet.
