Gold On The Inside

All right kids, hot off the press, we have a wedding date. We have been looking for a church that fits some criteria for our wedding. We wanted to get married in an orthodox church. We want this because we want to baptize our kids. If we didn't plan on baptizing, we would been to Vegas and back. Yeah, I know, Mary Ann and my sisters would have formed a line to whoop my ass, but I ain't scared of those women, I am engaged to a Greek. We were very close to doing this. So, if we were in the midwest, either my parents church, or Helen's church would be our options. But, we insist on doing things the hard way. When we rented our apartment, Our landlord, Nikolay, told us he was a priest. He is a Bulgarian Orthodox priest at a small little church not far away. I actually met him at the church to give him the security deposit. He always invites us to events, and is a great old school priest. He is an artist, he smokes, drinks, and rocks a ponytail. Helen, Shannon, and I went to the Hollywood farmers market on Sunday. After, we took a drive and Helen asked me to take her by Nikolay's church. We went in, took a look and lit a couple of candles. On the way back to the car, with Shannon and the dog inside, we spotted our landlords car, and decided to go around back and see if we could find him. We did, drinking beer and smoking behind the church at a table with some other men. Look, smoking and drinking don't qualify a Man of God with me. But, I remember looking at pictures of my baptism, and after, the priest sitting at my kitchen table having a scotch and a cigarette. And that priest, ,whose name I forget at the moment, was a favorite of my parents. I think its great that a priest enjoys himself, and has a real side to him. I remember lloking at the picture when I was older and thinking Priests don't have to be perfect, just human. And the more human, the more we can relate to each other. So, Nikolay introduced us to everyone in the basement. We sat down at at a table, had some water and beer, and met some of the churchs founders. It was warm and inviting, and brought back all the memories of The Society, family gatherings, and even the church my parents attend now. We visited for a while, thanked, hugged and shook hands, and went on our way. Nikolay came by to collect rent last night and we asked him about a date, he said it was fine and he would marry us. I think its great, somebody we actually know, like and respect, is going to marry us. We don't care that it is Bulgarian, orthodox is orthodox, no matter the language. And now we have a date, a great starting point for the planning as well. Now, I have a deadline, and a lot of work to do.