My toast at Rebecca's wedding

Rebecca and I share a unique bond.

We lost our mother at an early age. Our father did a heroic job as a single parent over the subsequent years until Laurie entered our lives. During this time, we were what they used to call “latch key” children. This meant that we helped to raise each other when no one else was around. By that I mean that we looked after each other. And by that I mean that we would beat up on each other. Actually, I did most of the beating up. Ah, but I digress…

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Today, I look around this room and feel the spirit of our mother here with us. And I know that she would be so proud of the woman you’ve become – warm, loving, compassionate, committed to making the world a better place, extremely sarcastic and a very powerful positive force in the universe. Perhaps a bit too powerful.

And she would be thrilled to know your life partner. Jeff is a truly thoughtful and sensitive human being. A bit less sarcastic than Rebecca, but I see that they share parallel world views, make each other laugh, are able to share life’s simple joys and support each other through the difficult times. Their love for each other is strong, transparent and infectious.

I am now in the unfamiliar situation of welcoming a new brother to our family. But as I look around this room, I realize that this union – so to speak -- expands our family well beyond the addition of one more seat at the holiday dinner table. Through this marriage, we have become related to another wing of the movement – a family I am just beginning to know. The enlargement of our family, and the organizing opportunity it represents, is a new and wonderful experience. So I want to welcome the Nelsons and the Kleins to the family of the Freedmans and the Millmans. May we all work together in peace to fight the forces of evil, win justice for workers and troubled youths, and make the world a place where people of all types in all nations can raise their glasses together and drink great wine.

I think of our mother on this glorious day and take comfort in the fact that she is here. Because she lives through us. And her spirit is with us today.

With that, I raise a glass and offer a toast to the future of our families, to Rebecca and Jeff and to the wonderful life that now becomes a reality for them and for all of us.