Dad's Wedding

So I went to Aspen for a few days.  In spite of me thinking the whole theme was a bit silly, I had a GREAT time.  It wasn't so silly when I got to mount up on Fury, once my special filly,  in 1880's style Wyatt Earp garb sporting a thin handlebar mustache and ride to a "babbling brook" to escort my new sister down a slippery slope to the narrow bridge before watching my dad get married to a super-cool chick.  Neat.  The next day I got to play ski-bum and hit the slopes with my dad and his new bride while the wind swept from over the continental divide.  Follow that up with driving 128 miles an hour in my childhood DREAM CAR (Porsche 911 Carrera 4) in the snow up to McClure Pass with my dad making permanent fingerprints in the passenger seat leather, and you've got one hell of a passport stamp vacation. Here's my dad's wedding announcement in the Oklahoman yesterday (I thought you might get a kick out of it.. I did):

Donald M. Smith of Oklahoma City, and Krissa K. (Van Pelt) Halter from Denver, exchanged wedding vows March 28, 2009 in an event reflective of the spirit of the Old West.

The couple was married near a silver mine site in the ghost town of Ashcroft, 10 miles from Aspen.

In keeping with a Victorian theme, Krissa wore a shearling wedding coat, stovepipe boots, Italian leather riding slacks, a ruffled shirt, and a black cowboy hat. Don wore an 1880's style, formal, wing-collared shirt with a string bow tie and a long black frock coat. Guests were brought to the wedding site in a 20-person sleigh drawn by Percheron draft horses.

Don, his two sons Michael and Brian, and his Best Man, Mike Young, rode their quarter horses to the wedding site from up the valley in two feet of snow. Krissa, her mother Gertrude Van Pelt, her daughter Heather Van Pelt, and her Bridesmaid, Holly Gomez, rode to the wedding site in a small sleigh pulled by Clydesdales.

Reverend Luke Back of St Paul's Cathedral in Oklahoma City officiated, as the couple stood on a narrow foot bridge over a babbling brook. Together, the wedding party read prayers of Celtic spirituality written by J. Phillip Newell, their friend and expert on Celtic spirituality.

During the procession and recession, the children of Don's cousin, Cara, beat a Native American drum and struck a Tibetan song bowl. After the ceremony, Krissa mounted Mac, the quarter horse Don gave her as a wedding gift, and Don mounted Blue.

Hand-in-hand, they rode through the snow to the 130-year-old Blue Mirror Saloon in Ashcroft, where they hosted their guests with champagne and hot cider. The couple is honeymooning in Egypt, riding Arabian horses in the desert to reach the pyra mids at dawn.

The couple will reside at Duck Smith Farms in Logan County, Oklahoma, and at the Lazy O Ranch near Aspen. Don founded Smith Cogeneration, a developer of highly efficient power plants. Recently, Don founded Smith Algae Biofuels and BioFeeds.

CO2 emissions from his natural gas-fired plant in Oklahoma City will feed algae, which will pro duce diesel oil. The algae will also generate the type of oils rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which will be fed to a new blood line of cattle, developed at Don's ranch north of Oklahoma City.

Don, a Harvard graduate, began his quest to improve the environment with economic practicality as an assistant professor of economics at Southern Methodist University. 

Oh, my dad (and Krissa) changed his (their) last name(s) to VanPelt-Smith.  THAT was a surprise.  I think it's sweet.  But it brings up a couple of things.  First, I noticed how much my father's last name has played a symbolic part in our relationship.  He has frequently wanted one of his son's to carry on the family companies, most of which have used our last name in some pseudo-hyphenated way with another word that makes it sound really cool.  PowerSmith.  HydroSmith.  Smith Cogeneration.  DuckSmith.  (Okay, that doesn't sound all that cool, but we were kids...).  He even spoke about turning Quoddy Bay into QuoddySmith, and we recently named the "Algae Company" Smith Algae BioFuels.  Anyway, as he changes his last name, I start to realize how silly it really is to want to "keep things in the family." I guess I might see things differently when I have kids, but I question whether we put too much emphasis on family.  Are we any more connected to family than we are to friends or even strangers?  And why?  Because we share genes and eye color, and have gone through our experiences in close proximity for many years?  But in the end, aren't we all connected in such a way that is so much greater than this genetic and experiential bond?  I believe our connection through God, the Light, our spirits, that "iron string" is far more meaningful than the bond of chromosomes and proximity.  After all, love is really love, right?  I don't really believe there are degrees there.  Like Papa, in The Shack, who is "especially fond" of EVERYONE.  This is not intended to say that we aren't closer in our relationships to our family at all.  I certainly am much closer in my relationship to my mom and dad than I am to, say, Mickey Rourke.  And that has a lot to do with me being their son and our proximity as I grew up.  Anyway, it's interesting how when he decided to change his last name, I found myself less attached to carrying on the last name, even though the name didn't change at all.  Strange. 

Oh, and the second thing.  I've decided to one-up dad and Krissa.  They each changed their last name, and I have decided to change BOTH of my names.  I would now appreciate it if you would all refer to me as VanPeltSmith VanPelt-Smith.  Perhaps DOCTOR VanPeltSmith VanPelt-Smith.  Yeah.