There are moments I can remember clear as a bell, like the time my son Eric went fly fishing and a fish hook got caught in his nose by the boy in front of him; or the time he sang SILENT NIGHT at his elementary school Christmas pageant while he wet his pants; or the time Eric phoned me when he got accepted into medical school.

Or the time I witnessed his commitment ceremony to his life partner Drew.

After all our planning, organizing, and prepping for the event, nothing beyond my wildest dreams could have expected me for this absolutely gorgeous and beautiful ceremony. And the food! My god, if I could have taken a doggy bag back to Jersey, I would have, but they don't make containers that big.

Mind you, even though I'm Mrs. Espinosa and Eric's mother and I know I'm a little bias, I cannot even believe how beautiful it all was. I mean, there we all were--- all their friends and family--- all gathered around Hillary's beautiful garden as Father Richardson conducted the ceremony. Here was a Catholic priest giving God's blessing in secret--- away from the guidelines of the church because he believed in the beauty of love, be it straight or gay. Is that gorgeous? Granted, we were not allowed to tell any guests he was Catholic and the ceremony was non-denominational, but nevertheless, it MEANT so much more than if we had done it in a church.

Why? Because it was real. And while it had to be done in private, like I told my husband, it DID happen. The Lord's blessing was across my Luigi, I mean Eric, and his Drew.

But of course, there was the problem of the crows in the tall palm trees in Hillary's backyard, which nestled in the palm fronds as the guests arrived. Hillary's mysterious boyfriend, Maxfield, who was wearing a dashing black Armani suit, attempted to hurl rocks at the cantankerous birds, but when a rock landed in a neighbor's picture window next door with a giant crash--- we decided it was better to just leave them alone.

At first, I thought it was bad. Black crows at a wedding? It's like the time my friend Moira ran over a black cat with her electric wheelchair and a week later she fell down a flight of stairs. Her neighbor said she had been drinking and I suppose the same goes for wheelchairs as it does for cars. I wonder if there's an organization called WADD: Wheelchairs Against Drunk Driving? Oh, who cares. But these crows wouldn't let up until suddenly, as if on cue, just as the cello player began plucking for the ceremony, the birds flew away. It was so magical!

First, I walked down the aisle with a flower girl named Tawny from Malibu. She's only 5 but already she's an actress, having done several national commercials for breakfast cereals and one for the new Greenpeace Barbie. We took our seats and then Eric's father and Drew's father walked down the aisle side by side, stopping in front of Father Richardson at the end of the row. To see these old men, looking like something out of a Republican convention, waiting for their sons--- it was so moving!

And then my Eric walked down the aisle with his partner Drew. Flash photographs went off, both dressed in tuxes and looking so dashing, moving to the front where they stood by their fathers.

Father Richardson began, explaining what Eric and Drew's ceremony meant and that even though their marriage would not be recognized legally, they wanted it to be witnessed accordingly and there were certain things they COULD do as a couple. They signed Power of Attorney documents, registered as a domestic partnership with the City of West Hollywood, and signed over all bank accounts into a mutual account. So many signatures! It reminded me of buying a car.

Maxfield buzzed around in front with some kind of high tech video camera, getting it all on tape. He looked so intense, so high tech. He reeked of money, that boy!

Of course, I cried a lot. I knew people were staring at me but I didn't care. But when I really lost it was when they exchanged their vows. Neither Eric or Drew knew what the other one was going to say and my goodness, I got so carried away that I had to contain my crying because I couldn't hear what they were saying.

Eric went first, talking about always trying to fit into his life and the only time he felt he didn't have to was when he met Drew. He continued, talking about all his problems and how he knew he had to ask Drew to marry him because couldn't imagine living his life with out his cooking! We all laughed. And then he continued talking about his choices, coming out at work (his boss should be castrated), and knowing the only stable thing in his life was Drew's love.

And that's when I saw my husband, Papa, fight so hard not to cry. Of course, that made me cry even more until finally I saw him calmly wipe away his eyes and I knew this macho man was moved. This piece of granite was crying at his son's beauty.

But nothing could prepare us for Drew's vows. Nothing.

It was a terrible, terrible shock to all of us.