Peter proposed with the help of my best friend Reid, and his family of talented musicians. At the end of a warm, wonderful folksy house concert featuring Cricket Blue and Bold Forbes, Bold Forbes announced they had a final song and began playing Perfect Day by Lou Reed. By the second chord, I knew what was up. 
Peter joined the band onstage to sing a verse, and we agreed to get married, while surrounded by music and close friends. An evening of unforgettable magic.

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Reid's sister, Cassandra Jenkins, who has also become a dear friend, was an essential part of the day. She arranged the piano, violin, and choral sections; and rewrote the lyrics to be about us and the day. Thanks to her, I will never forget that "snow [was] falling in the park" on our perfect day.

Peter picked this song, as it's been a special one for us for a while. Our favorite days the past couple of years have been our slowest, simplest days, which this song perfectly expresses. We were also tickled by the fact the song is wrongly perceived to be about heroin, which honors how our simplest days could feel as euphoric as a drug-high.

When asked if Perfect Day was about heroin addiction, Lou Reed had this to say in 2000:

In 2024, this song figures meaningfully in Wim Wenders' newest film: Perfect Days. And last August, Al Green released a cover of the song, his first release in 5 years, which is beautiful in different ways, honoring the song's feelings of contentment and wistfulness in a nuanced rendition.

It would have been Lou Reed's 82nd birthday yesterday, and the more I learn about him, the more I admire him. I've never known much about him or the Velvet Underground, so I'm going to start in the coming weeks with: