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 Chapter 24

   Since we were in Vancouver, we took the time to meet with our Canadian
lawyer and talk about Jennifer's financial affairs.  We also took the time
to do some sightseeing and enjoy some of the city's attractions.  When we
were on the train, an idea came to me and I did some searching to see if we
could locate one of those big tents that caterers erect at fancy outdoor
events.

   I had wondered how we'd deal with things at the wedding if the weather
turned nasty and thought that having one of these tents would solve the
problem.  I reasoned that we could make it available to the community on
the main island once we were done with it.

   I broached the subject with Jennifer.  "Jennifer, I wonder if we could
get a big marquee type tent so that we can be prepared if it rains on our
wedding day.  Once we're done with it, we could give it to the community
for their use." Jennifer smiled and agreed that it was a good idea.  "Maybe
we could ask Elizabeth and Helen if they'd look after it for the
community," she said.  "That's a good idea," I said.  "If we did that,
perhaps we should ask anyone that uses the tent to pay a small fee so that
it isn't a burden for Elizabeth and Helen."

   We continued our discussions and finally decided to have a chat with the
elders to get their take on the idea and to make sure that the ladies were
comfortable with the idea as well.  Regardless of what happened to the tent
after the wedding, we needed to make sure we had one available for the big
day.  After some searching, we located a supplier where we purchased a tent
complete with side walls and a storage container and got them to ship it to
us as soon as possible.

   ****

   Ah to be home again!  The last leg of the trip from Vancouver back to
our little island was uneventful and while we'd really enjoyed our trip, we
were oh so glad to be home again.  We'd let Faye (our `cabin sitter') know
when we'd be home and she was all packed and ready to go back to the main
island.  Maggie and Ralph let us know how upset they were for us abandoning
them but that only lasted for about half a minute with a few hugs for Ralph
and ear scratches for Maggie and all was back to normal.

   While we were gone, most of the furniture we'd ordered for the new house
had arrived and had been unpacked and set up in the house - perhaps not
where we wanted it but we could rearrange it later.

   That evening, as we sat on the veranda of the cabin, I could see that
Jennifer had that `far away' look on her face.  I waited, knowing she'd
tell me what she was thinking about when she was ready.

   Suddenly she came back from wherever her mind had taken her and looked
at me.  "What are you looking at?" she asked.

   I smiled.  "I love the look on your face when you're dreaming about
something."

   Jennifer smiled and came over and climbed onto my lap for a cuddle.  "I
was thinking over the things that have happened the last 2 weeks and
marvelling at how things worked out.  I knew you'd said that Sheila, Don
and the rest would accept us with open arms and they did.  Based upon what
Martin had said, I was pretty sure things would go well with my dad's
family - and they did.  What surprised me was how accepting my mom's family
was.  I guess learning the titles in Urdu was the right thing to do."

   I squeezed her and gave her a kiss.  "I was startled to hear you
speaking in Urdu to your grandma but I assure you that what you did was
most certainly the key to breaking down any resistance that they may have
had.  You were wonderful and they loved you."

   Jennifer smiled and we both sat there quietly for a few moments.  I
could see something was amusing Jennifer.  "Do you remember the couple from
Laramie on the train?  I thought it was funny that he liked it that you
were old enough to be my father and she was mad at him for thinking that
way.  Wonder how things went that night in their bedroom.  Maybe he had to
sleep on the floor." Jennifer started to laugh at that thought.

   *****

   The next morning we had a serious discussion about our wedding.  The
only `outsider' that we needed to worry about was Martin and he had told us
that one week's notice would be all he'd need to be here.  Jennifer and the
group of ladies had pretty much got things laid out and once we heard back
from the tent supplier we could set the date.

   The next morning when we checked our emails, there was one from the
company in Vancouver giving us a shipping date for the tent.  If the date
was correct, it would arrive at the main island on Thursday.  If anything
happened to delay the delivery it wouldn't be there for the next Saturday.
We decided to wait one more week to make sure the tent arrived.

   On Thursday we expected the tent to arrive and we got a call from
Elizabeth telling us that the package had arrived.  Friday morning we
headed over and talked to her and to a couple of the elders.  We explained
what we were proposing and everyone was happy to go along with our
suggestion.  Elizabeth suggested that rather than just a nominal sum for
the use, there should be a slightly larger sum so that as things wore out
or otherwise needed to be replaced, there would be money in the kitty to
keep the tent usable.  After saying our goodbyes, we headed back home with
the package containing the tent.

   It seemed to me that a wise thing to do was to set the tent up right
away so that we could see how much time the erection process took, and to
familiarize ourselves with the various pieces and how they fit together. 
As it turned out, we took much longer that I had thought we would, mostly
from inexperience.  We agreed that it wouldn't take as much time the next
time we put it up.  Taking it down was fairly simple as we just needed to
put the appropriate pieces in the correct place in the box then store the
box away.

   Jennifer had been busy addressing envelopes to the various folks we
wanted to come over to the island and had wedding invitations ready except
for the date for the ceremony.  We decided on the date and after adding the
date, she got the invitations ready to deliver the next day and finally
sent Martin an email giving him the same information.

   Sunday was one of those glorious days.  Sunny but not too hot, just a
light wind and no hint of any rain.  As soon as we were finished with
breakfast we headed back to the main island with the invitations in hand.
We'd already told the community that the day after the ceremony on our
island, we'd come over to the main island and have pot luck with all the
community.