Of other weddings and snowfall

Today, I was supposed to be in Pittsburgh, to be there for my best friend and stand by his side when he gets married.

Mother Nature, however, decided it was not meant to be.

Let me back it up a bit.

It was shortly after I met Julie that I showed Tim the Social Me app on Facebook. Tim has two kids and was looking for "adult conversation"...get yer minds out of the gutter, ya pervs, I mean something other than kids stuff...and I told him he might be able to find someone to talk to there.

It was there he met Connie. The two of them started talking, like Julie and I did, except that she only lived about half the distance that I was traveling on a regular basis.

They had found each other like Julie and I had. I got the chance to meet her when I was back in the 'Burgh for Mum's funeral...not the best occasion, but sometimes, you don't get to pick the right moment all the time...and I could tell right away that they were good together.

Scratch that. They were DAMN good together.

Tim asked Connie to marry him, and she said yes. She left Ohio for the hillsides of Pittsburgh, moved in together, and began to make wedding plans. Originally, it was scheduled for next month, but like I said, you don't always get to pick the right time.

Connie's dad is very sick. I won't go into details, out of respect for their privacy, but it's bad. Tim and Connie went out to see him a couple weeks ago, and Tim...one of the classiest guys you'll ever meet...asked Connie's dad for his blessing.

He said yes, but he had a condition: He wanted to be there. Given his health, a trip for him to Pittsburgh was out of the question, and they weren't sure he'd be around for March, so they began to move the date up to as soon as possible.

They found a church. Made arrangements to get married today. Tim got a video camera to record it, and planned to set it up where her dad would be sitting, so it'd be like he was there.

I made the plans to be out there today. Checked the forecast earlier this week (something sensible from me, given the time of year) and it called for light snow. Nothing I can't handle.

Then the forecast changed. Enter the Nor'easter.

Now, out here in Corn Country, we got nothing. Back East...well...big storms hit every 7 to 10 years, and Pittsburgh was due for one, I guess. It just decided to hit this weekend.

I hated to do it, but I canceled my trip. Tim and Connie, bless 'em both, understood. Doesn't make me feel much better, but they understood.

So they're getting married today, and I...like her dad...will have to watch the wedding video later. I'm just glad he'll get to see his daughter marry one great guy.

P.S. Whoever's in Pittsburgh running Windows 7 and Chrome 0.2, send me a note via the e-mail link to the left. I'm curious what you think of the OS and the browser. (Told you I know when you stalkers come visit me.)