So, I agreed to get married. We were living together, an arrangement I thought far superior to marriage in so many ways. But he was returning to his country and wanted me to come with him. We got married in a courthouse by a Justice of the Peace. My friend asked if I wanted anything special. As a laugh, I told her I wanted a flower girl to strew lilacs before me. When we arrived at the courthouse steps, there was a drunk sitting on the steps with a bottle, some foreign exchange students smiling broadly, and my friend’s little girl dressed in a long gown, tossing lilac petals from a basket. After we were married, our friends threw rice. This rice must be auspicious because we have been very happy and very married for thirty-six years.