Adam and Joni's wedding

I have 19 first cousins, 4 on my dad's side and 15 on my mom's side of the family. My cousin Adam, from my mom's side of the family, got married recently in Minneapolis. Adam is kind, soft-spoken, generous, and is an all-around nice guy. I can remember when he was born in 1981, so it's hard to believe that he's married now. Joni, Adam's wife is outgoing, fun, and a great person.

Adam and Joni got married at the Fort Snelling Chapel in the Twin Cities, followed by a lovely and fun reception at a hotel ballroom. They were kind enough to ask me to do a reading at the ceremony, which I gladly did. The passage they selected was Colossians 3:12-17.

11 of the 17 Landmark grandchildren were at the wedding, which isn't too bad considering that 4 of my cousins are more-or-less estranged from the family. There's 2 cousins that almost no one has seen since 1990, and another who has basically stopped any contact with the family. So it was nice that most of us made it.

9 of the 17 of are married, and an additional 3 are in long-term relationships but not married (yet). 8 of the 17 have kids of their own. At the present time, there are 17 total kids from the 8 who have children.

I grew up with many of my 15 Landmark cousins; many of us are close in age. We have so many great memories of summers spent swimming at Roy Lake, fishing with our Grandpa, eating our Grandma's amazing cookies, playing cards, lighting off fireworks on the Fourth of July, and just hanging out. Adam and Joni's wedding was the first time that I've seen some of my cousins in a few years, and I was struck by the powerful emotional connection that I feel for many of my cousins. In the weeks prior to the wedding, my energies were focused primarily on a big project at work. Seeing my cousins reminded me of what's really important, helped me gain some perspective, and made me grateful for their friendship and love. It's great because in a world where so many people judge you, I always know that my cousins will accept me no matter what. And I feel the same way about them. We have so much common history that I feel unconditional love for them. After I got back to Milwaukee, I felt very empty. I wish that we could spend more time together, but Dave and I are the only ones in Wisconsin. The rest are in the Twin Cities, Omaha, and eastern South Dakota, so we don't see each other very often.

Photos: (1) Adam and Joni, the happy groom and bride; (2) Sara (sister-in-law), Adam, Dave (brother) and Joni; (3) me with my cousin Paul. Paul and Adam are brothers. Of the 17 Landmark grandchildren, Paul looks the most like our Grandpa. It's actually a bit uncanny to see a photo of Grandpa when he was Paul's age because they look so similar.