May 1st, 2008Today’s the Big Day!
The Best Is Yet To Be
On our joyful wedding day,
We begin a brand new life.
Friends and family give their gifts
To joyful husband, blissful wife.
But the greatest gift we’ll ever get,
A gift from heaven above,
Is love forever, ending never,
Everlasting love.
We’ll share life’s joy and pleasure;
We’ll have plenty of that, it’s true.
But love is the real treasure
For Reiko and I anew.
And if life hands us challenges,
As it does to one and all,
Our love will hold you steady
And never let us fall.
Our wedding day is full of joy;
Tomorrow we cannot see.
But one thing’s sure for the two of us:
The best is yet to be.
It’s not quite life-blogging, nor live-blogging, but this post is being published at the very moment that Reiko and I are exchanging vows at Nagoya-ko, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. If you would have told me five years ago that I’d be marrying someone like my Reiko, in Japan, with some of my friends and family here to witness the event, I would have laughed and asked you what drugs you were on. However, here we are today, Reiko and I are (officially, not just legally) husband and wife.
Now that the wedding preparations are done, and the ceremony and reception are underway, I’ll have the opportunity to share some of the things that has happened over the last two years as Reiko and I planned, saved, re-planned, and rebounded from the various ups and downs that come with planning an international wedding. That said … I’ll save those topics for specific posts at some time in the future.
Thank you to everyone that pitched in with a donation to the wedding. The amount collected was enough to hire a shuttle bus to bring my friends and family from Nagoya Station to the Arc en Ciel wedding house, which means it’s less money taken out of our already strained budget. I’d also like to thank everyone that has helped Reiko and I over the last few months, as none of this would have been possible without so much support.
A special thank you goes to Reiko’s parents, though, who have been the best in-laws a foreigner could have ever asked for in Japan. They’ve allowed me to stay in their home for the nine months leading up to the wedding. They’ve helped me get to work. They’ve helped me with learning the Japanese language. They’ve made me feel like part of the family. And, most of all, they let me marry Reiko, their youngest daughter. There are some people who cannot stand their in-laws, but I’m not one of them. Because of everything Reiko’s family has done to help me acclimate to Japan, I’d be willing to move Heaven and Earth to help them with a problem.
I just hope that I can one day return the favor.
Thank You.
– Jason F. Irwin J2fi
Thank you for inviting me, and for letting me be a part of your special day!
Congratulations and best wishes to the both of you. It sounds like you’re in good hands, Jason, and Reiko has done quite well herself! Lovely poem, too.
Congratulations Jason! I wish a happy life to you two.
Congrats Jason!!!
Thanks, everyone. The wedding was great!
I’ll post some pictures once I get internet at the new house … May 13th
Congratulations! Wonderful in-laws, wonderful wife, moving into a new house, it sounds like you have a wonderful life and great future ahead of you. I can’t wait to see some pictures!
Congrats in a very big way to you and Reiko Jason!! You both are more than welcome to come on down and spend as much time as you like at my house down on the beach. (See Nick for details)
You can either use it as a honeymoon or second, third or fourth honeymoon if you wish mate!!
Cheers and all the very best for both of you!
Actually it was a bed-and breakfast but we changed it into a regular house. Nick came down about 7 weeks ago and help me moved a truck load of furniture but at the time it was quite a mess. It has now been reformed and is quite decent even if I say so myself.
With 6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 4 toilets, I can handle a few people. It is quite old but with my wife’s touch, has come up alright. Saying that, she now wants to renovate one of the bathrooms aaaaaaah and that is going to cost money.
My mother-in-law is a wonderful person however, my father-in-law likes to start every converstaion with me with “Japanese do it this way and Japanese do it that way” and feels the need to give me a Japanese history lesson everytime he speaks to me.
Unfortunately he does not have a great relationship with anyone in the family and it really is kinda sad. Your relationship with your In-laws is something that I envy and should you want to send them on down, we would be more than happy to look after them.
With onsens, fine restaurants, walks along the beach, fishing and Aimi’s cooking, just can’t think of a better place!