Now I've done it all. I have been to the prom. I have walked across the graduation line to accept my high school diploma in front of nearly a thousand people. I have been baptized in front of my whole church. Now, I've also been the best man in a wedding, my brother Todd's wedding.
Obviously, Todd is a man of great courage. It's not like Todd didn't know the major risk he was taking. No one knows more than Todd the amount of disruption in public that I can cause. After all, he and Dana, his new wife, double-dated with my date and me at the prom. It was Todd who was chasing me around on prom night at the post-prom activities as I dashed from room to room. He has also seen the tape of my baptism.
While I am a very good swimmer, I found it very hard to let myself be lowered into the water backwards by the pastor. Quite a lot of practice finally resulted in a strategy. My dad would come into the baptismal also. When the time came for the pastor to lower me down into the water, my dad would bend over and pull my feet out from under me while the pastor caught me and helped me get down into the water.
At the moment of the actual baptism, I guess the spirit of God was with me because I was totally relaxed and let myself be easily lowered into the water. Unfortunately, my dad was pulling my feet from under me and my pastor was expecting to use some muscle to get me into the water. Soon, all three of us were under water together. Watching the tape is rather funny when all three of us disappear. The pastor still refers to it as his second baptism. Todd has seen this tape.
Nevertheless, he wouldn't consider anyone but me as his best man. I put on the tux and nearly did everything ok, though I didn't stand very still and I made just a little noise that wasn't a planned part of the ceremony. My facilitator Rich was there to help me, thank goodness.
Rich also helped me at the wedding reception by reading my toast to Todd and Dana. He did a great job and I received lots of complements on the toast. Here is the toast:
A toast to Todd Wetherbee, my brother and best friend, and to Dana, his lovely bride: Todd is my idol in all ways. He is funny, he is one cool dude, he is popular and he is really smart. Except for the time that I bit him and he bit me back again, Todd has always been the perfect big brother. Todd is about to embark on an important new journey. If he is even half as good a husband as he is a brother, he will have a long and successful marriage.
Dana is living proof that Todd is also very lucky. She is drop-dead gorgeous, she lingers over a good meal, she brings lots of life to a party and she knows how to balance the books. She is a patient and faithful friend. I always wanted a sister and now I have one, a darn good one. Dana gives the Wetherbee family a whole new look and we are lucky to have her.
Will Rogers once said, "It doesn't much signify whom one marries, for one is sure to find out next morning it was someone else." Todd and Dana know each other pretty well after their years of dating, but I hope they awake each morning loving one another even more. It was said of Mozart that he was happily married - but his wife wasn't. I wish full happiness to both Todd and Dana in their marriage.
Todd and Dana: May God be the cornerstone of your marriage, may children liven your home, may your lives be enriched by many friends and may your love for each other grow and mature into an unbreakable bond.
Ian Wetherbee 11/08/2001