Kelly Times Two

On Tuesday, October 7, I was in Boston for the memorial of 31-year-old Dr. Allan Moore, who tragically died from an accident when he and his wife, Rebekah, were riding a motor scooter that collided with an SUV. Allan was an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, the location where the memorial took place. The tributes by his colleagues and family were beautiful and touching. I have known his wife, Rebekah, since she was 12 years old when I was her Sunday School teacher when I was a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where Kelly and I were newlyweds attending college. Her mom, Elizabeth, had just gone through a bout with breast cancer. She seemed to like me and the positive influence I had on her daughter, and later hired me as the manager for their home, which was the official university president's residence at CU. I worked there for a few years. Gordon left CU after about four years to become the president of The Ohio State University. Elizabeth's c...

Remember the lavish, gorgeous wedding that Kelly and I attended in Nashville two years ago for Rebekah Gee and Allan Moore? Click here to see pictures that I posted then. I got this piece of mail today inviting me to " A Celebration of the Life of Dr. Allan Frederick Moore ," and immediately thought of his father, also a doctor. I thought, "I don't recall Allan's dad having the same first name," then googled it. His dad's name is Michael, by the way. I found out that Allan, 31, died about six weeks ago when he and Rebekah were riding a Vespa (motorcycle) and a 21-year-old woman driving a Range Rover or Land Rover, collided with them. I'm numb and saddened by this awful news. I hope to attend the memorial service for Allan that will be held on October 7 in Boston. That will have been Rebekah and Allan's second anniversary. Rebekah's dad was the main guy (Chancellor, I believe) at Vanderbilt University when Kelly and I were there in Nashvil...

Following the wedding in downtown Nashville at Christ Church Cathedral, guests either drove or were transported by shuttle to Cheekwood Museum of Art & Botanical Gardens for a picture perfect night that could not have been any more spectacular. The wedding dinner menu was spiced butternut squash soup with tamarind cream and toasted sunflower seeds which was absolutely incredible. The salad consisted of arugula with grilled fennel, roasted red pepper, red onion, capers, and Parmesan curls with lemon vinaigrette. My entrée choice was roasted breast of chicken while Kelly picked the sea bass, with root vegetables and Yukon potato puree, and last but not least, wedding cake. Kelly & Kelly Here comes the cutting of the cake moment!

I took many pictures while in Nashville and have been squeezing in and adding posts and photos here and there during this busy, crazy week, and hope to wrap up the final ones today. Ambiance prior to the dinner at a table outside with a spectacular view of the botanical gardens. Place cards for the dinner following the reception.

Kelly & Kelly in front of the visitor's center at the Hermitage mansion, the home of former United States president, Andrew Jackson. We took our Toyota Camry rental car with GPS around to a few memorable places while we had some free time before the afternoon wedding. First, we made quick drive-by of the Grand Ole Opry House, then we drove down south of Nashville to the LDS Temple in Franklin, and finally to the home of Andrew Jackson. The "klein maar fijn" Nashville temple was situated right next to a chapel that shared the property. It reminds me of the Oklahoma City temple. The grounds for the chapel were spacious, full of big trees and shrubs, and very well groomed. We enjoyed the pleasant, mildly cool autumn weather.

In addition to the save the date card we got announcing Rebekah's wedding, we got three other mailings, which were so fantastic that I want to share them here. Also, in the gift bag that was left for us in our hotel room, there was a wonderful program that was functional and very pretty. Upon arrival time at our hotel, we were treated to a gift bag by the bride and groom filled with this program of events, some Goo Goo Clusters, which are made in Nashville, two crispy cheese crackers from the local bakery, two bow-tie sugar cookies in honor of the bride's father, who is famous for his reputation, but known for wearing a bow tie, one frosted in pink with a green monogram, and one frosted in green with a pink monogram with the letters R and A), two little bottles of Jack Daniels Tennesse Whiskey, two bottles of water, a box of Tic Tacs, and a pack of aspirin. I suppose if you were to drink the whiskey, you might need the aspirin. The program was very helpful and had driving di...

Following the rehearsal dinner, Rebekah and Allan hosted a night out on the town in Nashville, and provided guests with cowboy hats and libations. Downtown Nashville reminded me of Austin with all the live music available. From Elvis to Johnny Cash, this band was cranking out cover tunes that really got the crowd going. I didn't want to leave! Kelly, my urban cowboy, and I had a wonderful time dancing to the live band. They were fantastic and the place--Robert's Western World on Broadway--was packed like sardines but we managed to find a piece of the dance floor right in front of the band to honkeytonk to the mesmerizing sound of Johnny Cash's hit song, Ring of Fire. We had a ball! Lucy and Frank Taylor, Rebekah's grandparents joined her from Utah for the celebration. Lucy, Elizabeth's mom, is 84 years old and Frank is 93. Rebekah and her dad had a great time dancing together. Gordon and Rebekah dancing again. Her dad seemed much more willing to dance with her...