I obviously want to echo everything that Caroline said about everyone being here
today, and how much it means to us. Particularly those of you who travelled so
far to be here, from halfway around the world in some cases. We are very
honoured to have you here with us on our big day.
I’m going to warn you, if you haven’t figured it out already - the Keaneys are
criers. So I can’t promise I’ll make it through this. In fact, I can guarantee I won’t.
I want to thank Mi-Sung, mom, for her amazing speech, which I was very touched
by. I also want to thank both her and Karl, dad, for their endless support of
Caroline and I, in so many different ways. We wouldn’t have had such a beautiful
wedding today, with so many of the people we love, without your help. And I
know for a fact that bringing me into your family has already quadrupled your
grocery bill, so I thank you for that as well. But of all the things I have to thank you
for, the most important, obviously, is for your daughter. Getting to know the two
of you these past almost four years has given me wonderful insight into how
Caroline became the amazing person she is. I’ve seen in her so much of both of
you. Karl’s determination, his confidence, his strength, his passion for travel and
life. And I’ve also seen in her Mi-Sung’s intelligence, her grace, her beauty and her
unbelievable kindness and warmth. The two of you have welcomed me into your
family with such open arms. We will have our own toast with Karl a little later on,
but for now I just want to say mom, dad, I love you both, and thank you.
And speaking of your family, I want to say thank you to the entire Kim clan, for
being so welcoming to me. From the first time I met you, it was immediately
apparent just how close you all are, and it reminded me so much of my family, I
felt right at home. In fact, I knew I was welcome from my first family gathering at
Karl and Mi-Sung’s, for Caroline’s call to the UK bar party. I introduced myself to
Uncle Bob. He shook my hand and said, “Kevin? Nice to meet you”. Then he
handed me a shucking knife and said, “oysters are out back”. He put me right to
work, and that’s when I really felt like part of the family. You are such a warm,
loving group, in the way you help each other, support each other, and honour
each other. And on that note, I would like to make a toast to the two people who
played the biggest role in making each our families as close and as strong as they
are, Caroline’s grandmother Ha-mow-nee and my grandmother, Nora Burns, or
Gammy. Two amazing women, who even though they are no longer with us, are
still the forces that keep our families so close, and who we all feel here with us
today.
I want to thank my mom, who is the greatest and strongest person I’ve ever
known. You’ve supported me, and all of us, in everything we’ve ever done. When
I was a kid, I thought you were a superhero, and as I’ve grown up, now I know for
sure. I don’t know how you’ve done everything you’ve done. Despite working full
time in a very busy career and raising three kids, I can count on one hand the
number of times you missed any of our basketball, volleyball or baseball games. It
may even have been zero, but I figured there must have been some overlap in
there. You’ve been my sounding board whenever I needed advice. You’ve always
been the first person I’ve called when I needed some to talk to. You’re my mom,
but you’re also my friend. Because of you, I was able to grow into the type of
person who was able to end up with someone like Caroline. I’m sorry I made you
wait so long for one of your kids to get married. I’d just like to point out that I was
the first. But as you can see, it was worth the wait.
I want to thank our MC, Ed, who, big shocker, did just an awesome job today.
When we were planning the wedding, there were so many difficult decisions we
had to make. The easiest one, by far, was who we wanted to MC. I just said to
Caroline, “Ed?”. She said, “perfect”, and off we were. Eddie, thanks for being
there for us not only today, but doing so much in helping put together the
bachelor party. It was really important to me that the guys all got to meet each
other and know each other before today, and you made sure that happened.
You’re an amazing guy, an amazing friend, a walking encyclopedia of move
quotes, and I know that mine and Caroline’s day would not have been complete
without you being a big part of it.
Sean, Mark and Rik – My three oldest friends – we’ve been friends for almost
twenty years. We’ve done a lot and been through a lot together, starting way
back in high school. Getting fake ids taken trying to buy beer underage, sneaking
onto golf courses and running from the marshall when we got caught, making
weekend trips to the U.K. without having any place to stay, stealing a giant
inflatable cow writing a ransom note to the newspaper about it. Now that I think
of it, you guys have been present for the stupidest decisions I’ve ever made in my
life. So it’s only fitting that you would be standing by my side for the smartest.
And I know with kids and distance and school and work and everything we don’t
get to see each other as much as we’d like, or at least as much as I’d like, but
when we are together it always seems we just pick right up from wherever the
last conversation left off, no matter how long it’s been. And it means the world to
me that when I called you and asked you to stand with me here today, you didn’t
hesitate. So thanks, boys.
Mike – I don’t want to say too much about Mike today, because I have to save my
best stuff for my speech at his wedding this coming September. I’m just going to
go ahead and assume I’m the best man for that. It would be pretty rude if I
wasn’t, seeing how I asked you and all, and we’re brothers, but y’know, no
pressure or anything. It’s your special day. Seriously, Mike, you’re not only my
brother, you’re my best friend. It’s not usually the case that it’s the older brother
that looks up to the younger brother, but it’s not usually the case that you have a
younger brother like Mike. You are the best best man a guy could hope for.
Thanks for everything you’ve done, and for just being you. I love you.
And most importantly, I want to say a few words about my new wife. As most of
you know, Caroline and I first met while waiting for the elevator at our old
apartment building, where we lived on the same floor. Same apartment building
that our very good friends Jennie and Craig lived in. And while that first meeting
may have been fate, I’d be lying if I said the following ones didn’t involve at least
some planning on my part. Caroline lived at the far end of the hall, but I lived in
the apartment right in front of the elevators. We both worked downtown, and
seemed to leave to walk to work around the same time, so I had the advantage of
being able to time my departure to when I heard the ding of the elevator opening,
knowing someone was there, and hoping it would be Caroline. Now I’ll confess
there were a bunch of times it wasn’t her, and I’d end up awkwardly riding down
18 floors with someone who was probably both confused and offended as to why
I looked so disappointed to see them. But every once in a while, I’d get lucky, and
there Caroline would be. And even though I would be very nervous I would be
trying my best to look cool and casual, which for those of you who know me, isn’t
my strong suit. I managed to do that about three or four times successfully, until
we both knew that we really clicked, and that it wasn’t going to be a big risk
dating your next door neighbour. I worked up the nerve to ask her out; I
remember telling Steve Beites, who is here today, on a drive back from a
weekend in Sudbury, about my beautiful neighbour and how I was going to ask
her out the next time I saw her. I saw her the very next day, and did, and here we
are. I still have the business card she gave me when I asked if I could give her a
call. We agreed it didn’t make sense for her to give me her home number, since it
was just as easy for me to lean out into the hallway and yell. But since then we’ve
travelled the world together, raised a very loveable, very hyper beagle together,
accidentally smashed two dozen or so wine glasses and dishes together, and
spent what have been the best three and a half years of my life just being
together. Caroline, you look even more beautiful today than when we first met.
I’m not sure what I did in a previous life to be so lucky that I get to marry you, but
I’m glad I did it. I love you very, very much, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of
my life with you. And I’d like to raise a toast to my beautiful bride.