A Successful Campaign

Saturday afternoon, Father Steve Cook and I co-officiated Allie and Alex’s wedding ceremony at The Guild, in Kansas City, Missouri. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

The beginning of Allie and Alex's relationship was, how can I put this, interesting. Here's Alex describing their first interaction: "On her first day, I was driving to lunch and almost ran into her as she was walking around the corner in our campaign parking lot. I like to say that I was so enamored by her I got distracted, but I’m also a klutz."
 
And, here's Allie describing their first date: "Alex spilled pizza sauce on his shirt... I knocked into the table as I slid out to go to the bathroom. I should have realized then and there that I would always be able to be myself around him and vice versa.
 
Seriously, though, there is something deeper here that Allie and Alex's relationship is emblematic of. You see, Allie had studied well, and was working not one, but two internships. She knew what she wanted to do, and where she wanted to work. Alas, there were no openings there, so she went to work on the McCaskill campaign, just for the meantime.
 
And Alex? He knew what he wanted to do too. He needed a change of pace in his work, and he saw that in working on the McCaskill campaign. And, he very specifically was putting his dating life on hold.
 
Care to guess what happened next? Alex's plans to put his dating life on hold got pizza sauce all over them. Allie's plans to quickly return to the place she had planned to work, knocked hard into a restaurant table. Alex says it succinctly, but than again you would expect that from a marketing guru, "As these things so often happen, the moment I stopped looking for a partner I found one."
 
So, why did Allie and Alex upend their lives, and change their plans? They followed the maxim, "Seize the day!" This does not mean don't plan. Plans are a great thing to have. The best type of planning, though is looser and ongoing. It's planning that still allows you to, "Suck the marrow out of life!" Come to think of it, this is the flexible type of planning that makes for a successful political campaign. Just ask any successful politician.
 
Wonderful things can happen, when you live your life this way. You can find someone like Alex, who Allie describes as, "the kindest, most selfless person I’ve ever met. He is incredibly smart and hardworking... He allows everyone, not just me, to be their true, genuine selves. He makes people feel at ease and comfortable... What an amazing partner to find and to have."
 
And you can find someone like Allie, who Alex says, has made him a better person: "Being with Allie has opened my eyes to the importance of slowing down and spending time with the people you love... I’m much more emotionally available than I was five years ago and that is entirely because of her. Allie and I make a great team..."
 
With that in mind, Father Steve, I think the phrase used in the Royals' dug out would be, "Batter up!"