Of course my son and his fiancée would get married on Ghost Conference Weekend, I said casually to a friend. I was feeling a little sad I wasn’t going to the conference, which took place at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center this past weekend. The conference is in its seventh year; in the past I’d written preview pieces about the conference and made a point of attending for at least a few hours. In case you missed it, the Oregon Ghost Conference features mediums, past-life regression practitioners, spirit experts, animal communicators, psychics and vendors specializing in paranormal-related wares. The Oregon Ghost Conference is the largest paranormal convention in the Northwest, attracting thousands of visitors.
In preparation for the wedding ceremony, which took place in Seaside on a semi-secret beach, I went through boxes of old photographs — real photographs, not the digital variety. Around the house I scattered pictures of our combined families’ deceased; my mother, my father, my favorite stepdad; my husband’s mother; a couple of much loved pets, and deceased close family friends who had known our son since he was just a lad. I imagined their pictures would serve as an invitation to their presence at the wedding, just in case if in their ghostly capacities they cared to attend.
My son and his fiancée were oblivious to the Oregon Ghost Conference as they planned their nuptials at the beach. To be honest, I’ve never heard either one of them indicate in any way whatsoever they are believers in ghosts and spirits. They were officially married at a rather rocky and imposing location not far from the Cove. We warned them there could be gawkers, but it was raining (what else?) and save for two passersby who stepped away when they divined a wedding was about to happen, we had tranquility and peace.
Back at the house as my husband cracked open a couple of bottle of champagne, I found myself glancing a few times at those old photographs. I thought what it would be like if our old dear friend, the Montreal-based singer Tony Roman, could have been there; or Bill, whose life was taken from him in a homicide by an unknown assailant when he was only in his early 40s. The really crazy thing is Bill’s case has been a cold case for 28 years. A few months ago Bill’s case was reopened by a New York Police Department detective who specializes in cold cases. Was it a coincidence that just hours before the wedding, the detective called me with a bit of news? What he said was less important to me than the simple fact of the timing of his call, which I read to be a message from Bill, letting me know he was with us in spirit for the nuptials. Bill loved a party.
The bride wore a diamond that had belonged to my mom. It was the diamond my father gave her when they became engaged. I felt my mother’s approval of the beautiful new setting for that diamond my son’s bride commissioned. My son never met my mother; she died a few months before he was born, but since she was so attached to the ring, I felt her spirit hovering approvingly nearby during the vows. My mother-in-law was famous for scowling in almost every photo, but as I was going through those old photos, I found one where she’s smiling. In it she is beaming at our son when he was newborn. Our family is by any standard very small, but if you count the ghosts with us at the wedding ceremony, I think we had quite the crowd.Read more at:bridesmaid dresses brisbane | bridesmaid dresses perth
