I guess I'll have to do a little story telling for this post to be more understandable. Sue loved tie-dye! She was drawn to it, she wore it, she just loved it! So, while preparing for our wedding, I decided to surprise her with a custom tie-dyed tuxedo shirt. Not the bright rainbow colored fake tie-dye that can be seen from the space station (which she did wear and we all kinda hated) but a more dark and subdued tie-dye made up of dark purples, dark blues and a bit of dark red. It was my way of giving her what she wanted but still having it my way too. I think that qualifies as compromise? Or, is it controlling? Anyway, my next challenge was who could be trusted with this tie-dying task for such a special occasion? Well, I have a good friend Christine, who acted as my tie-dye connection. She loves the little town of Guerneville and befriended David, who does all of his own tie-dying and has made many custom pieces for Christine. If she trusted him...then so did I. I bought a tuxedo shirt (white, 100% cotton) and sent it to Christine, who then delivered it to David with my specific hand written instructions. Through Christine, I heard how truly honored David was to be asked to make a piece for such a special occasion. The shirt came out exactly as I expected and Sue was very pleased with her surprise. Of course it was only months later that Sue passed away and when Christine gave the news to David, she said he was absolutely devastated. We had never even met the guy but he was part of making our special day, perfect. His emotions were as if he had known us for years. He really cared for us, even if we were strangers. Well, this weekend I was invited to Guerneville to spend the weekend with friends, and finally, after two years, I got to meet David. I got to hug him (a few times) and give him a proper thank you for being a part of our special day, and for being an all around nice guy. Another little piece of closure.
Pictured above is Sue in the tie-dyed tuxedo shirt, with her granddaughter Nataly, on the day of our double beach ceremony in Pacific Grove, CA on 10-25-08
David's shop address: Seconds First, 16365 Main St., Guerneville, CA (707) 869-2211
