Wedding Days

In a few hours, we will embark on the final leg of a journey that will bring us to the wedding day of our oldest child, Quanah.

This journey started with the marriage of Fay Bottiglieri and Russell Bastian on January 12, 1947. It continued with the marriage of Anne and Don Jeffries on April 8, 1977.


In a few days, Quanah Jeffries and Erin Sohler will join this post with their own wedding picture that will be taken on June 16, 2007. Someday the process will be completed with our daughter, Krista Noel.

Can you tell that I'm feeling very sentimental? This entire week I've been thinking about the excitement of final wedding preparations and how removed I feel from it, living in California as we do.



But today the feeling started changing. We are packing, planning for ten days away from home, thinking of the new future that is about to be created, the memories to be met and stored up.


I don't think it is any accident that each marriage is separated by a space of 30 years. There is something very circular and tidy about these spaces in time. And what is it about the number "7".

Lucky number seven is familiar to all of us. In almost every system of antiquity there are frequent references to the number seven. The Pythagoreans called it the perfect number, 3 and 4, the triangle and the square, the perfect figures.

There were seven ancient planets. The sun was the greatest planet of the ancient seven and next to the sun, the moon, changing in all its splendor every seventh day.

The Arabians had seven Holy Temples.

In Persian mysteries there were seven spacious caverns through which the aspirants had to pass.

The Goths had seven deities, as did the Romans, from whose names are derived our days of the week.

In Scriptural history there is a frequent recurrence to this number. E.g. in Revelation 1:16 -- "and He had in His right hand seven stars."

Anyone in Seventh Heaven is in a state of ineffable bliss, having the greatest pleasure possible.

The seventh son of a seventh son is believed to be born with formidable magical and healing powers: he is clairvoyant, capable of casting powerful spells, and possesses the ability to heal by a laying on of hands.

There are Seven Wonders of the Ancient World- 1) The Colosseum of Rome. 2) The Catacombs of Alexandria, Egypt. 3) The Great Wall of China. 4) Stonehenge. 5) The Leaning Tower of Pisa. 6) The Porcelain Tower of Nanking. 7) The Mosque of Hagia Sophia.

In its earliest days Rome was ruled by a succession of seven kings. According to tradition these were Romulus (founder of the city), Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus.

Seven Lamps of Architecture Book-length essay on architecture by John Ruskin, published in 1849. According to Ruskin, the leading principles of architecture are the "lamps" of Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and Obedience. The noblest style of architecture was Gothic, but in time medieval architecture had lost the power to resist innovation. This loss of vitality was the result of the spiritual decline of Christianity during the materialistic Renaissance. The essay took the studies of a generation of medievalists and provided them with a general framework and a moral flavor.

Seven Last Words The Seven Last Words are the last utterance of Christ on the cross... The words are "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" ...recorded in Mark 15:34, and Matt. 27:46.

Of the many names the ancient Hebrews had for the deity, the seven names of God were those over which the scribes had to take particular care, the names being: El, Elohim, Adonai, Yhwh (Jehovah), Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyer, Shaddai, and Zebaot.

The Seven Natural Wonders of the World are 1) Mt. Everest. 2) Victoria Falls. 3) The Grand Canyon. 4) The Great Barrier Reef. 5) The Northern Lights. 6) Paricutin. 7) The Harbor at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We have the Seven Seas - The Arctic and Antarctic, North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean.

There are Seven Deadly Sins also called cardinal sins. Any of the sins originally identified during the early history of Christian monasticism and grouped together as early as the 6th century by St. Gregory the Great. The traditional catalog of the seven deadly sins is: (1) vainglory, or pride; (2) covetousness; (3) lust, understood as inordinate or illicit sexual desire; (4) envy; (5) gluttony, which usually included drunkenness; (6) anger; and (7) sloth.

And there are the seven senses (yes, seven) - animation, feeling, speech, taste, sight, hearing, and smelling.

I look on the stories surrounding the number seven and I can't help but to feel lucky and blessed. Perhaps it is the Italian in me but I see it as a sign of long marriage. Mom and dad were married for 54 years. Don and I have been married for 29 years. My greatest wish for Quanah and Erin is that they too have a long and fulfilling life together as much lovers as partners and companions in life.