What if today is the day?

I didn't sleep last night.  Or rather, I didn't sleep long or well.  Today was the day we were going to look at our (possible) wedding venue - a barn.  A beautiful, decorated, perfect barn; exactly the right spot for our wedding and reception.  So, you may ask, if you were looking forward to something that wonderful and exciting, why didn't you sleep?  The answer is simple.  In this age of supposed enlightenment, where most people shrug off same-sex couples as no big deal, you still never know when bigotry is going to rear it's ugly head.  Although a great many people support our right to love whomever we choose, there are still enough around that can squash your hopes in a moment, with few words.  What if that was the case?  What if we showed up, looked at the barn and fell in love with it.....only for him to say he wouldn't rent it to a lesbian couple?  I know that there are other venues, other ideas, but I really had my heart set on this one; it answered several of our preparation questions and felt so right for us.  So I didn't sleep.  I tossed, I turned, I worried.  I walked, I cleaned, I read.  I didn't sleep - well.

The barn where we'll marry?

Morning found us en route to the barn, nerves jumping.  I kept telling Wendy "he seemed very friendly and very genuine, I'm sure he'll be ok with it" "I can't imagine anyone who had been that helpful from a mere phone call could be that cold hearted"....I don't know which one of us I was trying to convince.

We arrived at the barn with a little time to spare (the owner was en route but would be another five or ten minutes) so we walked inside to look around a little.  The downstairs was nothing special - a kitchenette, video game room, tv, computers and some open space.  I felt a bit let down; this was not all I'd hoped for.  We then moved to the upstairs.  Despite the handful of cars and ATV's that he'd started moving in for storage, it was clear that the place was a beautiful wonderland of romance and twinkling lights.  When he arrived and started flipping on the multitude of lights, my heart soared - it was amazing.  I was sold.  Heck, I was thrilled!  It was everything I'd hoped for and much much more.


Now, we came to the moment of truth.  We had simply introduced ourselves as "Wendy and Heather"....not "hi, we're the brides-to-be" or "here come the lesbians".  He could have assumed that we were simply the bride and a friend - that's a reasonable enough assumption, after all.  After some small talk and a tour, I could wait no longer - I finally blurted out something like "and you're ok with it being the two of us?".  I do think I caught him aback, but he smiled and said "oh, you wouldn't be the first".  And with that, everything was good.  My heart could return to it's normal position, my nerves could stop jumping and we could go ahead with plans for our wedding.  In a barn.  I can't wait!