A Very Special Valentine's Day

Those of you have been reading my blog over the years may have already had an inkling that Alejandro is more than just a friend.  For more than twelve years he has been the most important person in my life, and for at least five years, since marriage equality was achieved in the U.S. and in Mexico City, we have talked about getting married.  Yesterday, on Valentine's Day, we finally tied the knot.

In preparation for this, I brought with me my birth certificate and a document called an apostille, a certification by my home state that the birth certificate is authentic.  After I arrived in Mexico, I had to have those documents translated into Spanish by an official translator.  On January 23rd, Alejandro and I went to one of the civil registry offices in Mexico City along with his good friend Eduardo.  Eduardo last year married his partner from the United States, so he had been guiding us through the process.  He had suggested that we go to the civil registry located in the neighborhood of Roma since he had encountered not the least bit of astonishment that two men would want to wed.  Indeed, everyone was very cordial when Alejandro and I went there to present all our documentation, pay our fee, and make an appointment for a civil ceremony.  The judge was going to be on vacation until February 10th, and marriages are only performed on Tuesdays and Thursdays at that office.  As luck would have it, the first available date was Valentine's Day!  We had an appointment with the judge for 9:00 A.M. on February 14th.

I was at Alejandro's house the night before, and we were up early to drive to the civil registry office.  Accompanying us were Alejandro's father and sister.  Unfortunately, his twelve-year-old nephew could not join us.  He could not get out of school because this is the last week of the grading period, and he had tests scheduled every day this week. Eduardo, who lives within walking distance, also showed up at the house bright and early.

At 7:30 we piled into the car to make the ten-mile drive to the office.  The night before I had a dream that we were stuck in traffic and were not able to arrive on time.  That dream seemed to be coming true.  At first the GPS said that our estimated time of arrival would be 8:32.  But as we crawled through the rush hour traffic, one minute after another was added to the estimated time.  As we came within a mile of the office, it seemed that we had a red light at every intersection.  The ETA was now 8:45, but we also had to find a parking space, which could take a long time.  I kept thinking that we would arrive late and be told, "Sorry, you missed your appointment."  Fortunately, as we arrived at the office, someone was pulling out of a space right in front.

I should have known better than to worry about being late.  Even though we were the first couple scheduled for the morning, we waited for about twenty minutes before being called into the judge's office.  The judge was very cordial.  He had us review the information on the document.  There were several typographical mistakes, and they somehow had my age listed as 47!  The judge had to make the corrections on the computer and then print off a new copy.

We were led into another room where the civil ceremony would be performed.  Previously, because of COVID, friends and family were not allowed in the room.  They had to watch the ceremony from outside through a window.  But the restrictions have been relaxed, and Alejandro's father, sister and friend were called in to join us.  I gave Eduardo my camera, so he was able to take some photos.  There was also a professional photographer, and afterwards we ordered some photos from him as well.

The ceremony was very short and simple.  Instead of saying "I do", in Spanish you respond "Sí, acepto".  The judge had some very kind words to say at the end, and we were legally married!

Here we are signing the marriage document.

    

Married at long last!

Pictures with the family

After the ceremony we drove to one of our favorite restaurants, "El Cardenal", and had a delicious, late breakfast.

There is no way that either one of us will ever be able to forget the date of our anniversary!