My Favorite Human

In June, Deacon Edward Rositas and I co-officiated Cristina and Zac’s wedding ceremony at Canyonwood Ridge in Dripping Springs, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests: 

I want to be respectful of the religious nature of this event, so I am somewhat hesitant to share the first message Cristina sent Zachary. This is real bodice ripper material. But since it was their first communication, here we go. Zac says, “My headline bio on Bumble said ‘Harsh critic of disorganized email inboxes and electronics cords,’ so it's no surprise that my now fiancé’s first message to me was, ‘Thankfully google organizes most of my emails for me. Have you enjoyed living in Austin?’"

Now, again, I am somewhat hesitant to share what they did when they met in person because most people don’t do this kind of thing on a first date. Again, my apologies for the risqué nature of my remarks. Cristina says, “I had not been to a lot of the must-see Austin sites, and he suggested a morning hike and brunch after. It was SO hot outside, and we were very sweaty and smelled horrible after and it makes me laugh reflecting back that we decided to go outside in August in Texas.”

Now, let’s get serious. Every now and then, I officiate a wedding for a couple that is fairly young and has had the good fortune to have not hit any speedbumps in life. I worry a little about that couple, because when you have not been tested, how do you know that you can pass the test? Because, if we are being honest, while marriage is one of the greatest things that can happen to you, like most great things it is not without its challenges. Marriage takes “stick-to-itveness”. Marriage, if you will, takes guts. 

I am not worried about Cristina and Zac, in this regard. Speaking of guts, gut health might not seem like the most romantic subject, but it becomes downright poetic in the story of this couple. 

“He took me to the emergency room and (eventually)… I was diagnosed with Celiac disease… I was freaking out because I had no idea how I was going to eat anything… What was Zac going to do… I didn’t know if… if Zac wanted to change the way he ate too. We… would need to replace a lot of our cooking items as they were contaminated with gluten. 

Zac… made the transition to eating gluten-free easy. He was 100% in on helping me be gluten-free and even decided to go 100% gluten-free in our apartment as that is the best way to keep me safe.”

Zac cites this experience as what cemented his decision to eventually arrive at this moment, and he talks about how this experience had positive knock-on effects on how they lived their lives: “I was ready to help her overcome this new test, and it was at that point I knew that truly loved Cristina and that I would eventually marry her… We began exercising more and eating healthier. We became better chefs going out for food less and less.”

Having been thus tested and thus improved through this test, I am confident that this couple will go the distance. And so when they state why this is their moment, you know this is the real deal. This is, again, downright poetic.

Cristina says, “I want to marry Zac so we can continue moving our relationship forward and build a family together… I want to marry Zac because he is my best friend, he cares deeply about us. And Zac says, “Cristina is my favorite human in the whole world. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and there’s no one else that I would want to create a family with.”