12 September 2007

The Little Church in New York

The Little Church, Mid-town Manhattan

We pull out of Washington's Union Station at 8:10 on The Vermonter, one of the Amtrak trains that still has a name.

My older son and I are headed for New York City, and the re-creation of a wedding held sixty years ago. It was one of the serial marriages held at the Little Church Around the Corner. Couples waited in the garden for their chance at a few minutes with the minister.

The War was over, and millions of men were still passing through New York, headed for home and re-integration into society. The women who had been liberated by the necessity of war work were being re-integrated to the kitchen, and to starting their families. The genie that had been let out of that bottle was not going to easily be put back.

Mom had escaped from the Ohio River town where she had been born, and Dad was trying to break into industrial design as the business began to produce consumer goods after years of military production.

It was an exciting place to start a new life, and that is what we are going to celebrate tomorrow.

Many members of the wedding party have passed on now, though they will be represented by their children. This is a good chance for the family to rally; my folks are the last ones left of their generation on either side, so there is a large measure of symbolism in this.

The kids who are marrying now are grandchildren, and the fractured nature of the family, spread across the continent, means that beyond the cousins, there is not much familiarity. Everyone knows Mom and Dad, and an event without a casket is a good thing.

It is Fashion Week up there, which marks the official start of the new season. I expect it is going to be crowded and chaotic, but that is how the marriage started, and there is no reason to change it at this late date.

There will be more from the road. Stay tuned.

Copyright 2007 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com

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