Louisiana/Washington — Apr/June 2021Celebrating Life
In the spring, after a full life of 95 years, our dear sweet Oma (German for “grandmother”) departed this world. As Oma had wished, she was able to stay home under the tender care of my mother and other family members, patient caretakers and Hand in Hand Hospice. At her graveside funeral my mother gave a heart felt eulogy and I read aloud the Peace Prayer of St. Francis from a forgotten little book found on a shelf in Oma’s house, probably given to her nearly fifty-five years ago following the untimely death of my grandfather Harold Owen:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Come June, it was time to celebrate a new beginning. My daughter Ariel Fogden married Avery Bibeau in an intimate ceremony with twenty-one people attending, including the bride and groom. They currently live in Portland, Oregon, but met in Seattle, Washington where they went on adventures in the Cascade Mountains. For the wedding weekend we rented cabins along the Skykomish River in Index, WA with the groom’s parents hosting outdoor festivities at their main cabin. On June 12th the Saturday sunrise ceremony took place in a tiny roadside chapel a few miles down the highway. That afternoon was filled with exploring and lawn games, then an outdoor dinner which, when coupled with the natural setting and happy hearts, would have been nearly impossible to improve upon. The following day Ariel graduated virtually from Portland State University, so we held a brunch in her honor at nearby Cascade Inn Cafe which happened to be owned and operated by that town’s mayor. I am so happy for Ariel and Avery and pleased that they chose a simple and meaningful way to celebrate their union. Congratulations to these two wonderful and wise humans who make the world a better place by being together.
Mother of the Bride and the Bride at Gathered Seeds Flower Farm in Monroe, Washington the day before Ariel and Avery's June 12 wedding. On June 13 Ariel received her BS in Graphic Design with a Philosophy Minor, Suma Cum Laude from Portland State University.
The day before the wedding, while the guys went hiking, the ladies gathered at Gathered Seeds Flower Farm to cut flowers for bouquets, were guided on making our own boutonnières & corsages and had a catered lunch; it was such a meaningful bachelorette party.
On the porch of an Index, Washington cabin with the banks of the Skykomish River and foothills of the Cascade Mountains as a breathtaking backdrop, Ariel arranged her wedding bouquet from flowers gathered during our outing earlier that day.
On June 12 I gained Avery Bibeau as a son. The tiny Wayside Chapel in Monroe, Washington, originally built to welcome travelers to the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle and visited by Ariel and Avery early in their courtship, held most of the nineteen wedding guests for the intimate sunrise ceremony.
Our extended family now includes Avery's brother and wife Forrest & Amber Bibeau and their parents Norri & Mike Bibeau.
The linen clothed table is set with abundant summer bouquets for a late afternoon outdoor wedding feast catered by family friends, followed by cake cutting on the cabin deck, then a riverside campfire under the stars.
The wedding favor: a specially formulated natural fragrance by the bride and groom made into hand sanitizer.
One of several fabulous courses served by the Fine family at the outdoor wedding reception.
Best Man and brother Forrest Bibeau toasts Avery.
Ariel with her younger sister and Maid of Honor Bodhi Fogden.
A simply delicious wedding cake by Flying Apron, a gluten-free & plant-based Seattle bakery.
All smiles, Ariel and Avery cut into their wedding cake near the banks of the Sykomish River.