MISTER TOAD'S WILD RIDE

BS"D


Wednesday, August 25th
Our mothers are not coming :( but I guess that's what you get for only giving them 72 hours notice when they're 3,000 miles away. That's alright. Our wedding will be what it is meant to be. & that will be perfect. G@d willing.

My list of Things To Do for the day looked like this:
*Drive to Boston
*Final word from Gafni on Ketubah wording
*Appointment callback from miqveh
*buy white outfit for Joel
*preparations pre-miqveh
*write ketubah
*white grape juice (because red stains & we're getting married outside on the beach in the dark)
So, not so much to do today ;+>

Adam, in his culinary genius, made the most astoundingly tasty kosher chicken pot pie for all of us for dinner tonight. It was truly amazing & I will never forget it.

I soaked in the tub & prepared for my bridal miqveh visit to Mayyim Hayyim. Drove madly from New Haven to Boston in rush-hour traffic. Boston, being the impossible city to drive around in & reach your destination that it is (even with a map), provided me with some extremely frustrating moments. Lost AND 45 minutes late (it was quarter to 11pm) I stumbled upon the miqveh quite by chance. I ran to the door, breathless & in tears, embarrassed by my tardiness & petrified I would have to have a chupat nidah. But the miqveh attendant was still there, waiting patiently, & greeted me with a smile.

She was from Montréal originally :) her name was Miriam (very appropriate for a miqveh attendant) & she was *so* kind. She said she just had a feeling that I was actually going to show up, so she'd been waiting. How wonderful :)

This beautiful Victoria home had been converted into a double miqveh. It was very pretty & simple & unassuming on the outside, next door to a synagogue. But inside it was possibly the most spectacular miqveh I had ever seen! Not that I'm an expert on miqva'ot or anything, but I've seen a few in my time by helping with conversions, getting brides ready for their weddings & because of the work I do, I was visiting the miqveh so I could write the Sefer Torah. For some short time I was refused entry to the miqveh in Vancouver, on account that I wasn't married, but that was sorted out expediently & is a whole other story.

The interior of the miqveh at Mayyim Hayyim was truly a calm, spiritual place. It didn't convey the false preciousness of some spas, but it still made one feel in no uncertain terms that the ritual performed there was of deep importance.

& I felt 100% at ease with Miriam :) which is so important, because a miqveh lady can make all the difference between a beautiful & a traumatic experience.

But can I just tell you about the actual immersion? The water shone in different colours! Yes, I'm serious. There are lights fitted under the deck surrounding the pool (which, by the way, has warm earth tones & has a serene, simple look & feel to it) that you can't see even when you're in the water. Miriam told me I could select a steady colour if I liked, or just let them change randomly. I opted for the randomness. I mean to say, I *was* getting married, after all.

I stepped down into teal water. The water became gold. I exhaled & immersed. When I surfaced the water was red. I said the blessing for immersion & Miriam said "ameyn". The water changed to violet. I dipped. The water was emerald. I dipped. Pink. Dipped. Azure.

May G@d grant Joel & I a marriage of perpetual unity.
Ameyn.