Somewhere Over the Rainbow

By the time you read this post, I will have danced with my daughter at her wedding reception to an Eric Clapton version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. And then, after I've delivered a few heartfelt words to the assembled guests, I will relax into a celebration of marriage made up of toasting, dancing, and most likely, a few tears. For this post, I will share my words of love with you:

When Katrina was 2 1/2 years old, she informed me that she had "two minds." One was a "thinking mind," and she used that one quite brilliantly. She still does. Her other mind was a "dreaming mind," and we are here to celebrate the realization of one of the dreams that mind produced. It began as a friendship, evolved into love, and now embraces the commitment and comfort of marriage.

But back to that little girl with two minds. At age 3, Katrina had a brief relationship with Davy Crockett, whom she met on television. I recall setting a place at the table for her imaginary friend Davy and contacting a cousin who lived in San Antonio to pick up a coonskin cap at the Alamo for Santa to give to Katrina. But her affair with Davy was brief, just long enough for her to memorize five of the verses of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," and sing them over and over. "Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee . . . " (I bet she can still sing them!)

And then Katrina met Dorothy. And then Katrina BECAME Dorothy. Ruby slippers, blue and white gingham dress, braids in her hair, and a basket to carry a stuffed dog named Toto. And this was not a Halloween costume . . . this was EVERY DAY. Katrina attended her 4th birthday party as Dorothy, and I dressed her little guests in homemade costumes for the Lion, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and Glinda, the Good Witch. Jenna toddled around as a little Munchkin baby. We ate a Yellow Brick Road cake, and a good time was had by all.

Our later discovery of "Return to Oz," a dark sequel to "The Wizard of Oz," coincided with the normal loss of innocence that all little girls and boys must go through. The Emerald City was in ruins, and a villainous king ruled the land.  Leaving Oz behind, Katrina soon turned her attention to creating music and poetry and fiction of her own, but I don't think Dorothy ever left her. I think that young girl, her imagination alive with a better world somewhere over the rainbow, still resides in Katrina's heart.

And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. Which brings us to this moment. Katrina and Derrek have a dream to fulfill, one dependent on love, imagination, and a strong sense of home. Everything is in place for a happily-ever-after. Katrina and Derrek will begin their married life in a very, very, very fine house (with at least one cat in the yard). My dream for my daughter and her husband is that they fill that home with love and joy, with art and music and imagination, with compassion and affection, with forbearance and forgiveness. Because as everybody knows  . . .

There's no place like home.