A Perfect Pair….Photograph by Scott Morgan

Scott suggested we celebrate our union in his uniquely Aquarian way. This Piscean has what has been referred to as “a clean title”. Together we make a couple. This ceremony is to recognize that Scott and Katy have shared a life together and been there for each other through thick and thin.

We invite you to witness our celebration of love being held at the penthouse at Sur La Mer Resort on Saturday,the 12th of January, 2013 at 4:00 PM Goa, India time. We commissioned Scott’s cousin Jill Satin, a Humanist Celebrant practitioner, to put our feelings into the perfect words. Posted here below is our magnificent partnership script. The ceremony will be photographed and videotaped and posted to the blog. Scott’s longtime friend Joel will be standing in for Jill. We’re posting this announcement today so that our friends and family around the globe can have advance notice to think of us and celebrate along with us on our special day. Or hop on a plane and join us in person! RSVP in the comments section, please. 🙂

Celebration of the Partnership Ceremony of
Scott David Morgan & Katherine Marie “Katy” Allgeyer

“Hotel California” aka Sur La Mer Resort

Morjim,Goa, India

Celebrant: Jill L Satin

Partnership Script for Scott and Katy with love from Cousin Jill 12.12.2012

Celebrant:
Good afternoon! This is truly a happy…. and beautiful day here at the Hotel California Sur La Mer Goa.

These words are written for my dearest cousin Scott David Morgan and his partner, and lover Katy Allgeyer. My words will be read for me by a proxy as I am unable to be with them in person on this special day. My name is Jill Satin and I am an accredited humanist celebrant from the British Humanist Association.

Scott and Katy have chosen to have a Humanist Partnership Celebration. Humanists respect and celebrate all types of partnerships ceremonies. Humanism itself is a philosophy based on the viewpoint which says society needs a moral code if people are to live together in harmony, and that morality comes from within ourselves. It is about unselfishness, kindness and consideration towards others, and about accepting responsibility for our own lives, whilst recognising our responsibility to the wider community. Humanists accept that this life is the one life we have and believe that we should try to live full and happy lives ourselves and, as part of that, help others to do the same.

Dearest family and friends though you will not be with Scott and Katy today… this will be a private and intimate ceremony, they still wish to invite you to share and witness their promises that symbolise their commitment to each other. Most importantly, it is your friendship which gives this partnership ceremony its special significance; for it is an outward symbol of the love between Scott and Katy that has led them to make their declarations to each other, and share this with all of you, the people whom they most love and respect and whose friendship they most value. You all represent their wide circle of friends and family and your support in the future for Scott and Katy and each other will be all the richer for having been part of today.

This ceremony has no legal status. Today is more about the personal commitments – an altogether more romantic concept than the signing of a legal agreement – and in searching for a way to celebrate their partnership, it was particularly important to them both to involve you all in sharing their happiness on this unique occasion.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND
Some background to this ceremony is in order here. We all know that Scott was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer in October of this year. He has chosen to spend his last days in India with his amazing Katy. This last journey together is the most challenging they will have. We all wish them peace, strength and love today as they celebrate a loving partnership.

Scott wanted to surprise Katy with this ceremony as an expression of his thanks and love for her, but also to affirm in person before witnesses the love he hold in his heart for his partner lover and friend Katy.

Scott and Katy will have been together for seven and a half years. They were introduced by two close friends, Joe and Corine Gantz, and did all of their early courtship by phone and email over a four month period. They finally met in person….on June 24th 2005 when Scott picked Katy up at Boston Airport. They spent a happy week getting to know each other in Maine where Scott had rented a two bedroom cottage. Deciding they had found love and determined to be together … Scott and Katy successfully managed a long distance relationship, helped by making many coast to coast trips between California and Maine… They have shared two homes for the last six years in Maine and North Carolina.

We all know that Scott and Katy share an eclectic interest in the world riches which includes a love of art, cultural history, museums, Maine, music and movies. To their mix add foreign travel, road trips, and the natural world in all its glory… a little of their favourite Ping Pong and some open water kayaking. It is amazing that they have time to work, love, eat and sleep. Together they have shared many wonderful adventures from the smallest wonder of watching baby barred owls branch out in their backyard, to the memorable trips to China, Amsterdam, Venice and Florence. They acquired over the last five years.. their two special and much loved canine friends .. the amazing Little Loolie and Hershey Dawg who are going to be ably represented today by Marlon Brando the resident dog at Hotel California.

Katy has written a wonderfully descriptive and personal blog of her meeting up with Scott. I call it… “ The Fishgirl crossed America to live with her Bear.” In the end it took many words (you know these two can be a wordy pair) a number of bear hugs and some gentle mermaid kisses.. but most of all some of that ever trusty old fashioned courage to have an agreement to have a relationship that would be the very best it could be………….. fast forward seven years………….. and here we are.

It is true to say “Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible / it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession.”

What I admire about Scott and Katy is their clarity and certainty about each other. We can all bear witness to the thought and consideration that has gone into their partnership and the energy that they continue to put into their lives. They must have a saying which goes something like …. “let’s just do….” which usually means adding a bit more to the start or end of a day, be it a trip to the local art gallery, a game of ping pong, a meal with friends that starts in the darkness of a late summer evening and lasts till dawn, or some other thing that they will try to squeeze… that extra bit of life from ….on the all too short day.

Whatever they attempt, they try to do it to the best of their ability – be it their jobs, their shared interests or their concerns for others. Like everyone, they may not always succeed but they try their best.

Scott’s dear friend and mentor in the furniture business Marvin Walker wrote this for them especially for this ceremony.

We all have our secrets

Even from ourselves

What we want and need

Is often a crossroad

Without direction signs

Life is full of twists

And turns

With its secrets still unlearned

But comes a time when the light does shine

And what is right for both arrives in time

That life does show a meaning and a beauty

And becomes at once the reason we are here

To unite our souls and bodies as one

There is a time when

The meaning of life shines

Threw doubt and fear

The realization of our need

And love for each other

Conquers all else

And comes that moment of peace and

Appreciation of what

Our togetherness means

That time is now

Dedicated to Katy and Scott

Marvin Walker© 2012

For these two people their friendship, love, affection, mutual respect and understanding has flowered into a shared certainty that they belong together.

With a couple with such an intense and well established relationship… a partnership ceremony is just a more formal and public declaration.. they already know the highs and lows, laughter and tears, arguments and agreements and change and uncertainty. Any partnership is therefore an ambitious undertaking. But it’s an ideal that’s worth pursuing because a happy union also contains passion and magic; talk and laughter; trust and support. And at its core lies a place of intimate love and deep contentment that is difficult to achieve in any other relationship.

For Scott and Katy partnership is also about recognising, considering

and fulfilling each other’s hopes and dreams. Their future together will

be shortened… but what they have experienced together will always be..

Scott and Katy have found each other… as soul mates, enjoying love and partnership shared together in the middle years of their lives. It feels especially right to have shared this celebration with family and friends to acknowledge the significance of their partnership and union.

This poem by Bee Rawlinson called Saga Love -somewhat humorously and irreverently -aptly sums real life. (Scott and Katy to read together)

SCOTT
Love me when I’m old and shocking
Peel off my elastic stockings
Swing me from the chandeliers
Let’s be randy bad old dears.

KATY
Push around my chromed Bath Chair
Let me tease your white chest hair
Scaring children, swapping dentures
Let us have some great adventures

SCOTT
Take me to the Dogs and Bingo
Teach me how to speak the lingo
Bone my eels and bring me tea
Show me how it’s meant to be

KATY
Take me to your special places
Watching all the puzzled faces
You in shorts and socks and sandals
Me with warts and huge love-handles

SCOTT
As the need for love enthralls
Wrestle with my damp proof smalls
Make me laugh without constraint
Buy me chocolate body paint

KATY
Hold me safe throughout the night
When my hair has turned to white
Believe me when I say it’s true
I’ve waited all my life for you

Scott and Katy, only you can make your partnership meaningful. You have already proven your mutual commitment to creating an atmosphere of care, consideration and respect, by a willingness to face the tensions and anxieties of life. You have made your lives together a source of great strength and joy. Your love for one another and your willingness to accept each other’s strengths and weaknesses with tolerance and understanding provide a strong foundation for continued growth and intimacy.

Scott and Katy will now state their promises and wishes to each other.

We are here to bear witness to these promises and to wish

them happiness and fulfilment.

STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT

Celebrant: Do you both promise to love and respect each other at all times and to nurture your love by always being there to listen, comfort and enjoy each other in a spirit of tolerance and mutual support.

Together: We do

PROCLAMATIONS OF INTENT

Celebrant: Scott and Katy, would you please speak to your partner your promises and commitment.

KATY:

Scott, I love you very much, my Lobsterboy

You are my crazy bear man..funny… kind, mad and amazing.

I see you in all your essence

And today I am asking you to share my life

As I hope to share yours.

You are a wonderful person and my best friend.

You always try to live life to the fullest

I will support and encourage you in every way that I can.

Things won’t always be great

And we will have our ups and downs

But I will always be there for you

And give you my love and affection

Without conditions.

I will always try to make you happy

I will love you forever.

SCOTT:

Katy, you are beautiful and I love you so very much.

My glorious and brave fishka

I love your sense of adventure, calmness and courage

And I am asking you to share what is left of my life as I hope to share yours.

I see you in all your essence

You are my best friend

And I will be a loving partner to you,

Seeking to understand your hopes, needs and fears.

I love the way you are your own person

And will always support you in that.

I will always try to make our relationship the best it ever can be.

I will give you hugs, affection, and love without conditions

And will stand by your side through thick and thin,

I’ll be your forever man.

CELEBRANT:

Scott and Katy, the qualities that attracted you to each other have led to a union founded on sincerity, tolerance, love and understanding. Your experience of life and your good humour will enable you to support each other in the days and weeks to come and we are all delighted to have this opportunity to wish you well.

This poem expresses all there is to say about love.

i carry your heart with me
by e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Exchange of Tokens:

Scott and Katy have decided instead of rings to exchange personal mementos, a beautiful amber amulet carved with Buddah on it and a matching amber carved lotus bead bracelet which for them symbolize infinity and the enduring purity of love.

Katy: I give you this token of my love, which we chose together. Always keep it with pride, affection and love. It is a symbol of everything we have done together, and may it always be a reminder of all the wonderful times we have had and the deep gratitude I have for having shared my life with you.

Scott: I give you this token of my love, which we chose together. Always keep it with pride, affection and love. It is a symbol of everything we have done together, and may it always be a reminder of all the wonderful times we have had and the deep gratitude I have for having shared my life with you.

(Long kiss please)

CLOSING WORDS

Scott and Katy, I know that everybody here and you dear family and friends from across this amazing planet will want to join me in offering you our heartfelt good wishes. We love you both. We wish you strength and luck in the future and, more importantly, hope that the love, friendship and trust that you share will guide you in the days and weeks to come. May our rainbows of love, affection and joy radiate out to you both as you enjoy the rest of today. – I am sure you will –
With tears, hugs, Kisses and much love your Cousin Jill

© Jill L Satin 2012

Email: jillsatincelebrant@gmail.com

Accredited by the British Humanist Association

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