GETTYSBURG TIMES: Reporter's Notebook 07/14/07

A year-and-a-half ago, I misplaced my pal’s keys at a wedding reception.
What had been a magical day of love evolved into mass chaos as a search party hunted for my buddy’s vanished belongings.
For two hours, a dozen individuals searched for the keys, but to no avail.Appallingly, they were in my pocket the entire time.
And I had no idea.Slightly more than 18 months later, I gave a Best Man toast Saturday evening to that same chap and his bride.
The toast was truly one of the biggest privileges — and honors — of my young life (aside from occupying a cubicle adjacent to Pat Nevada).
Standing with the bride and groom Saturday night in suburban Pittsburgh, I looked into their collective eyes.
“You’re not only the best friends that anyone could ask for, but I also consider you both an inspiration,” I told the happy couple. “Personally, I know that I’m a better person just for having both of you in my life.”
Glasses lifted.
“To Andy and Crystal — the vows you declared earlier today are a binding promise of united commitment, eternal hope, and unconditional love,” I continued. “For the last 25 years of your lives, you have been two. Now, you are one. As the light of matrimony brightens your world and as your lifelong partnership solidifies as the years go by, may your unity be filled with infinite happiness, absent of misfortune, and guided by the love of God everyday.”
I think the groom and I are over the key debacle.
— Scot Andrew Pitzer