Today we are supposed to pick a scene from our life that we will never forget.
It was time. Last minute kisses on the cheeks. Tender hands on my shoulders. Sweet smiles reminding me to breathe deep, take it all in, don’t lock my knees. Last minute touches to my face and hair.
The basement had emptied quickly of my closest female friends and family. I was left alone in the almost silent room. The low rumble of voices barely making their way to my ears through the floor above.
I looked up at the ceiling trying to make out the sounds, the laughter. Trying to guess who the voices belonged to. Almost everyone I loved and who loved me was up there.
He was up there. A smile tickled my eyes and lips. What was he thinking right now?
Surprisingly, I wasn’t as nervous as I expected I’d be. I wasn’t worried. Everything was as it should be and even if it wasn’t I didn’t care anymore. I was filled with gratefulness.
God had brought us both so far and in my mind this was His day. A day to celebrate what a love like His can do for two broken lives.
My Dad should be coming anytime now. Dressed so handsome in his tuxedo, knees still healing from recent surgery just so that he could dance with me.
Everyone quieted upstairs. In a whisper my Dad was beside me, “You ready?” I nod.
We walk to the elevator that would take us up. As we wait, the music has begun playing upstairs. The cue for my brother’s two sons in their tiny tuxes and my cousin’s beautiful little girl in her sweet dress to begin their walk down the aisle.
The cuteness factor has to be through the roof up there.
My Dad and I ride the elevator and the doors open to a small stoned in area outside the church. We walk around the pillar to the main entrance where any time they’ll open the doors and let us into the foyer.
It is a bitter cold, single digit Colorado morning and in an instant a gust of wind blows so hard that my veil almost takes flight. My Dad grabs at the material with one hand and the church doors with the other. He tries to get me inside but someone is holding the doors closed from the inside.
I laugh. I remember joking with the woman who did my “wedding” hair.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make you look perfect.” She smiled.
I had giggled. “Usually perfect is not what I pull off, but let’s give it a go.” The gusts of wind seem to be laughing with me.
Finally the church doors opened and we are let in.
My Dad desperately tries to get my veil back in place and make everything just so. People tend to me and I am distracted by the view through the foyer doors. Groomsmen. So handsome lined up perfectly in their chocolate brown tuxedos.
The music begins to play, the sanctuary doors open, and my brother’s pre-recorded voice sings me forward.
I know I am smiling, and I know so many are smiling back. My Mom is at the front with almost all of our family from Wisconsin surrounding her. So many precious faces. So many friends.
My Dad holds me steady.
In the front row is my 91 year old Great Auntie Kay. She reaches for me and I stop to let those precious hands who used to squeeze my cheeks as a child hold my hands for just a moment.
“So beautiful, oh so beautiful.” I hear her softly say as tears fill her eyes. How blessed I am.
My Dad hands me to Chris. I move forward and almost fall at the first step.
I didn’t wear the heels I had worn when my dress got hemmed. I was afraid I’d lock my knees, so I wear very flat ballet slippers. My dress is too long. I don’t care. Chris helps me up the stairs.
Minutes pass in a blur but our pastor captures our story so perfectly and makes us all laugh with his depiction of us and our love story. There is no time for tears, just joy.
When I put the ring on Chris’ finger I clap my hands and everyone laughs.
When Chris kisses me, many do not know that it is for the very first time. Our pastor knows and I hear him ask Chris a question.
“How was it?”
Chris turns and gives a thumbs up to the audience and the church erupts in laughter and clapping.
I am so very happy. I am so very thankful. What fun I am having.
A day that is so much more than worth the wait and the prayer that got us here. God over answered and my heart could not be more full.
This is the beginning. So beautiful, oh so beautiful…
