Kent is performing several weddings this spring and
early summer. At one of them he is going to be
wearing a tux. He has never had to do this as the
minister in the wedding.

My niece's wedding is next weekend, in Florida, and
we've been emailing back and forth on the details
for a few weeks now. Here's a sampling of those
emails.

To Carolyn:
Thanks for not making Kent wear a Tux as he has to
do at a wedding in June. He hasn't had to wear one
since we got married!

Lots of lovins,
Laurie

From Carolyn:
He does have to wear a tux--a white one with a gold
cummerbund (and gold shoes)

To Carolyn:
Oooh. He'll love it. And he'll look great

To Carolyn:
Kent says he doesn't look good in gold shoes, will
silver work instead?

From Carolyn:
my wedding will be ruined if Kent doesn't wear gold
shoes. I am not joking. Sure, the wedding colors are
red, white and black, but gold will just add that extra
pop.

(ASIDE-Of course I knew Carolyn was just being silly, but
I was on the phone with my sister Becky and she said,
"Are you sure she's not serious. This is a formal
wedding after all." That introduced just that little
tich of doubt that began to nag at me. So I decided to
put Carolyn to the test.)

To Carolyn:
And just where is he supposed to find these shoes?

From Carolyn:
payless?

(ASIDE-Now I knew she was kidding and I put it all in the
"We've been having fun file.") Then the next email came.

From Carolyn:
i know you know i'm kidding, but the paranoid part of my
brain wants to make sure

To Carolyn:
I knew you were kidding, then I talked to Becky about 30
minutes ago and she said, "Well Laurie, you know the wedding
is formal, maybe Carrie is serious." I did not think that
could be, but the paranoid part of my brain, the one that
is genetically related to the paranoid part of your brain,
said, "Laurie, plumb this a little deeper and find out."

The Payless email sealed it for me. I KNEW then that you
were totally kidding.

Lots of lovins,
Laurie

And now you have a small picture of what my family
is really like.