I am in Arlington, Virginia, today waiting to celebrate with Chris Korves and Erin McCabe their marriage in St. Mark’s Church, Vienna.  I have known Chris for more than a decade now, first meeting him in Huntington NY when his grandmother died, R.I.P.  She was Margaret Jordan, a native of Lisacul, and I was doing some summer placement in St. Patrick’s Parish, Huntington.  I attended Margaret shortly before she died and was amazed to discover she was from Ballaghaderreen.  Our friendship formed around her death and I am happy to say, has remained strong and important to this day.  Hence my being here!

I came to Washington on Wednesday and stayed with Chris’ family in the days leading to the marriage ceremony.  Weddings here tend to differ from home in that there can be a lot of pre-ceremony parties and get togethers!  That’s another story!  For now, glad to be here and look forward to the ceremony later in the afternoon.  My aunt, Mary Margaret, is here as well.  Chris’ family and Mary Margaret have become good friends through the years and I’m glad I had some part in making that happen.  She lives in Richmond, about 100 miles from Chris’ parents, Jeanie and Corky and they meet regularly enough. 

The wedding took place today in St. Mark’s.  It was a lovely celebration of marriage and Erin’s singing companions did her proud.  Kathleen’s solo singing was superb and all who took part in the Liturgy did so with dignity and passion.  Chris and Erin’s married life certainly got off to a great start.
It was lovely to meet so many people at the reception, some new to me and more that I hadn’t seen for a while.  All of them spoke with fondness for Ireland and expressed many happy memories of visits made or stories told.  Heading home on Monday!
I’d like to include a photograph that had a part to play in today’s wedding.  It was taken in 1907 in Edinburgh’s Botanical Gardens and is of my grandfather Thomas Sherlock.  A story for another time but it did feature today and deserves a mention. 

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