Mr G, our JP

JP = Justice of Peace

After confirming Mr Gaudette as our JP in January (wow, has it been THREE months?!), we met up with him yesterday evening. It is common practise for the JP to request a meeting with the couple before the wedding because there is a form that he needs to sign that needs to be submitted to the Registry of Marriage (ROM) before the wedding. Some JPs also like to meet up to have a chat with the couple to find out more about their personalities, etc.

Our appointment was for 7.30pm at Mr Gaudette’s (I shall address him as Mr G for the purpose of this entry) office. He’s also known as Brother Emmanuel and he works and lives at Boys Town. Looking at the address (Upper Bukit Timah Road), I didn’t think it was too far because Bukit Timah (in my mind) is pretty near to Orchard Road.

I was wrong. Very wrong.

I discovered that the stretch of Bukit Timah Road is one helluva LONG road. I was on Bus 67 and it took FOREVER to cover the Bukit Timah Road stretch. Coupled with rush hour traffic (thank God for bus lanes), it took me a good hour to get from Lavendar (I was there for a work meeting) to Boys Town located along Upper Bukit Timah Road. I wasn’t particularly sure which bus stop to alight from and took a chance. Turned out that I alighted one stop early.

Drats.

Had to walk almost one bus stop but thankfully, the boy – who was in a taxi – picked me up halfway and saved me the walk in my high heel shoes. Phew.

When we arrived at the gates of Boys Town, there was no one in sight. Not even the security guard – the guard house was empty. Hm. I rang Mr G and he gave us instructions to where he was located.

It turned out to be a rather long walk uphill, in semi-darkness. The street lights weren’t particularly bright and I was glad I wasn’t alone.

We finally found the building where he was located and made our way up the steps to the second level where his office is located. We were greeted heartily by a grandfatherly-looking man with a a head of white hair. I also noted that his left arm was in a sling. More on that later.

Mr G invited us into his office and I noted that there was a board filled with happy smiling pictures of couples that he’s married. There wasn’t any empty space left on the board! He later shared that he’s married more than 900 couples.

Wow.

Mr G had a sense of humour that I liked. He made little quips and jokes here and there, making the boy and I laugh. He also processed the paperwork, all with one hand. He later shared that he broke his left arm because he was trying to fix a faulty light in one of the rooms. It also wasn’t his first time injuring his shoulder. Oh dear.

After the paperwork was done, Mr G showed us copies of the marriage vows and made us go through it, as if on the actual day. We even had to pretend to take the ring from his hand and slip it on each other’s finger. That made me giggle. He also made us read out aloud the vows that we’d be taking on the wedding day and as strange as this sounds, I actually felt a tad – gasp - emotional.

I, (Bride/Groom), take you (Groom/Bride), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

We even had to pretend to exchange rings and look into each other’s eyes as we repeated the vows after Mr G. I found it quite amusing well and kept grinning at the boy. He actually looked more serious about it. Heh. No wonder people say that a wedding is a day filled with a whole bag of emotions.

After about an hour, we were done. We bade Mr G a hearty goodbye and went on our way, along the dimly-lit roads again…