The New York Times featured the wedding of Chris Barley and Marc Kushner, an adorable couple in Manhattan, in last week's Weddings/Celebrations section.
There's a lot to love about this story. The respectful humor with which they handled the religious differences between their two families should be a model for us all. Indeed, the humility and humor that both of these grooms evince seem to be a shared value amongst these families. When asked about her family finding out that her brother was gay, Marc's sister Melissa said, “When he came home from college totally buff with bleach blond hair and tortoiseshell glasses, they were like: something’s up.Then he said he was gay, and it was like, well, should we be upset about him being gay or about his bleached hair?”
Also, Chris and Marc's frank, unloaded decision to get a prenup to neutralize the issue of money was refreshing. According to the article, Marc said, “We’re not in denial that there are differences in our backgrounds, and a prenup was something that helped to neutralize that,” Mr. Kushner said. “The wedding was about a lot of things, but money wasn’t one of them.”
Finally, I love that the are so clear about loving the other person for who he is. They've been through a lot together, and each of them had good reason for hesitancy. Marc was Chris's first long-term boyfriend; Marc's Jewish background made their intended marriage doubly-challenging for Chris's traditional Mennonite family. They took the time to work through each of their concerns, and each came to realize that despite all the reasons why not, they had million more reasons why.
I wish both of these guys a thousand happy days ahead. Mazel tov!
