Today is a special day and I am really glad to be in this special place. I was even glad to drive up through all of the beautiful fall colors.
I am so pleased and humbled that you, Fleur and Tim, dragged yourselves to opposite ends of the world for each other. I am even more humbled that your friends and family love you enough to do the same. Welcome to Canada! and thank you so very much for coming. I was going to say something today about love being inconvenient and acting loving whether you feel loving or not, but I have a feeling that you are already on the right track on that point.
It seems like only last Sunday morning that I went to Church to tell my friends and acquaintances the most exciting news of my whole life. After being up all night walking hospital halls and, ironically enough, looking at travel posters in them with my sweet young wife we had a healthy 4 pound son.
I met my young and idealistic wife working in a treatment center for emotionally disturbed children. Working in the group home we got probably annoyingly definite ideas on what we wanted our family to be. We also learned a simple 3 step method for achieving these results. 1) families break bread together, 2) families have routines (I was a bit of a slow learner on that one, just ask my patient teacher), 3) families engage each other and the community that they live in. Timmy, being the leader in age became the leader of the kids in all 3 of these endeavors (perhaps a bit less on the routines). Dinner in our house was dinner theater and Tim was a "huge" star. He also helped his brothers and sisters to be co-stars when he was eating with us and to maintain a lively tradition now that he is only occasionally present. Tim often reminded me when I had missed certain routines, but he also had a nice way of including his friends in our routines that makes Dianne and I very happy. Tim was a very good leader in the engagement of community. Plied with ice cream he got us started playing and eventually coaching soccer. He was the start of our arena time where one year 3 boys played hockey and Christine figure skated. He was the first kid to buy his own guitar, which traveled the world with him and still bears the love marks of being dropped out of the back of our van by the Smithsonian. He was also the families introduction to rugby. Tim was the second person in our family to go to University although he went to some of my classes to help his mom take notes back in the day.
Thanks to the inspiration of Fleur Tim was also the first kid in the family to quit smoking. As far as I know he is also the only kid in the family that started, but we are still very great-full to you Fleur for this and other contributions that you have made to our family. It seems like only last Wednesday that you and Tim put yourselves out to meet us in Scotland on the day you were to fly to Australia after a somewhat less than idyllic trip to Paris. You are a lovely young woman and we could understand why Tim was sooooooo sad to see you go. We also really appreciate the times that you have welcomed Hildred house guests. I felt so proud last spring when Christine went back with Tim after Dianne's birthday to help him stay awake in a van full of rock climbing stuff. I am also proud of what hard workers you all are. I have been telling everyone who will listen how you both found jobs so quickly and how Fleur has her own office at Bay and Bloor. Another thing, besides routines, that I am maybe still slowly learning was that when you marry someone you marry their family as well. I have really enjoyed meeting your family and felt very happy to see the love and relationship between Tim and them. I appreciate the contribution that you have already made but welcome to our family and to Canada to Fleur and the rest of the Savills.
I was almost exactly the same age as you when I decided to get married. Mom and I have very much enjoyed being still quite young as you guys have been growing up. It was probably harder during our twenties but it seemed that in our thirties we hit our stride a little more. People sometimes become annoyed at things that attracted them to their mates in the first place. Not so with Mom. I asked her out because I thought she was funny. I still think that she is funny, but am really thrilled because she thinks that I am funny too. A girl's laughter is the best sound, don't you think Tim. It also doesn't hurt that Mom's hand feels good to hold or that her head fits in the crook between arm and chest so well.
Like I may have already said I think that you guys are probably already on the right track to love being something you do in addition to feeling. The other thing about love that you yourself have probably already been surprised by is that love as well as being inconvenient doesn't add up! Loving a little makes it easier to love a lot. Loving your kids and your extended family makes your wife love you more. Even when you can only give a little love to someone it can end up making a huge difference in their lives anyways. I am very pleased and proud that you guys found each other, knew what you wanted and went for it. It is much much better in my eyes to be a lover then a player.
I am proud of each and every one of you gathered here. You all make me feel like a bit better guy. You demonstrate by coming that real people despite (or because of) their faults are more important than abstract ideas or things and that is a real blessing to all of us. It seems like last Thursday when Tim left for Scotland. I gave Tim a blessing about him being part of us and we part of him, and wherever he goes his family also goes. Now both of the Hildred and Savill families have grown, you have this blessing. I hope that we will continue to be a blessing to each other.
Love Mom & Dad H
