Life is full of ups and downs. Life is full of both joy and sadness. While one person is celebrating, another may be mourning. I think about this often and try to embrace each moment with the appropriate emotion, but sometimes it’s a struggle trying to balance. Today, as I try to write, melding the joy of one family with the sorrow of another, I grapple with what words to share, but here we go:

For some the perfect wedding day is filled with a lavish setting, extravagant decor and an over the top line up of ice sculptures, music, fireworks and food that is somehow art. For others, like Maggie Nixon and Thomas Hunter, it’s about getting married in a place that has meaning, eating food that gives comfort and being surrounded by people and things that prompt joy and a sense of quiet delight.

On a sun-quenched Monday afternoon, while a long dining table was being set on the porch of Look Out — Maggie’s family home — she slipped into her great-grandmother Mary’s wedding dress. It was the same dress her grandmother Kathleen and mother Sarah had worn before her. Romy David and Stella Frank — friends since childhood — helped her prepare for the ceremony while brothers Bobby and Jack prepared the dinner menu and ceremony setting.

As Maggie strolled through the meadow on her father Bob’s arm, a small group of friends and family looked on with Jack’s childhood fort as the chosen backdrop. Thomas’s parents Terri and Tom had traveled from Portland, Ore. with Thomas’s sister Carly and her husband Charlie. Carefully-packaged and chilled, the group brought with them two Chinook salmon Tom had caught in the Columbia River to be served at the rehearsal dinner the night prior.

Also in the mix was Buddy Vanderhoop, who toasted Maggie. For a stint, she was his first mate in Tomahawk. Also playing a key role was Bobby’s girlfriend Rebecca, who baked the carrot cake adorned with carefully-chosen flowers from Tea Lane Farm. Scott McDowell reworked Thomas’s proposal ring into his wedding band and created a timeless treasure.

As the sun set and the lights twinkled, the group celebrated, laughed and told stories on Look Out’s porch. It was just what Maggie had envisioned. After of few days reveling and reminiscing about their wedding day, the couple set off for Europe where Thomas is on now on tour playing his guitar with British band The Heavy.

Life clearly has a whole lot of happiness to bestow on the newlyweds. May all continue to thrive in a life filled with love and joyful adventure.

When I first met Marshall’s Uncle Sam Carroll, it was the early 1990s and his was the ever-present face behind the counter at Island Entertainment. It was a place where he was full of life, a place where he thrived and gave tremendous insight to his customers about where they should venture to with the help of great movies.

Life after the video store had its ups and downs both in employment and in health but Sam managed to keep a smile on his face throughout. He could be frequently spotted strolling on a summer’s day for lunch at the Galley, where he often bumped into family and friends. He enjoyed Island history and thrived on sharing his genealogical research with whomever would listen. He was artistic and musical and loved a good drum session. Ah yes, the days of Die Kunst Der Drum on Menemsha Beach were a highlight.

Although family was not present, he was surrounded by a phenomenal team of medical professionals who gave it their all to sustain life. Sadly, his body was too tired and couldn’t keep up the fight. On Friday, Sept. 15, after some significant health issues challenged him, Sam Carroll died in the wee hours of the morning at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

A celebration of life and remembrance will take place in the near future. Start gathering your stories, songs and favorite dishes to share.