Sunday, June 25, 2006

The Wedding

Last night, as I took Sister's hair down and had her remove the lovely tiara she got to wear in the wedding, she cried woeful, crocodile tears. It had been an exciting day, so she was, of course, tired. But she had felt like a beautiful princess in her flower girl finery and her little heart couldn't bear that the magic had come to an end.

Truth is, I understood how she felt completely.

As I removed the pins from my own hair, I slid back into my old self, wishing I could wear the pretty dress and coax my hair into staying so neatly swept up. I caught myself pretending once or twice.

My sister, Teresa, got married this weekend. We haven't been close in a while, and I wasn't especially excited about the marriage. But I've had a change of heart, and today I find myself feeling a sense of real joy for her and for the future.

The rehearsal was Friday evening and Teresa had made hair appointments for Sister, herself and myself for Saturday morning, so she put us up at the Holiday Inn Friday night. We don't get out much, so we were all pretty excited about that. As you can see by the picture, my children couldn't contain themselves. And I didn't allow any photos of my reaction. You'd have thought we were the Clampetts just arriving in Cal-i-forney fresh from the backwoods. The kids were going nuts! Even the bathtub proved to be much more fun than ours here at home. I was worried the other guests might call hotel security about the jubilee and merriment coming from our room. Mental note to self: Get the kids out more often.

After the kids finally calmed down and went to sleep, I treated myself to a thirty minute long shower with all the hot water I could stand. I might have stayed in longer, but I was starting to see spots and I took that as a bad sign. When I emerged I noticed my beautiful tan (courtesy of self-tanning spray) had been steamed off my shoulders, leaving me with large, white, flakey patches. I knew a nice, even tan to wear with my strapless dress was way too much to ask. Another mental note to self: Long, hot showers + self-tanner = something that looks like a skin disease. Luckily I put on tons of lotion and it wasn't as noticable. And my dress had a matching wrap to hide my farmer tan.

The big day arrived. Sister, Teresa and I went to our hair appointment where the stylist transformed us into glamorous wedding divas with lightning speed. Teresa, who I thought would be a nervous wreck, was the very picture of peace and serenity. She was cool, calm and completely happy. And I began to think I was wrong about this wedding. Maybe she really does love him. Maybe she was going to be all right. We spent some time bonding and being girls together. We laughed about our failed attempts at tanning and her neon pink toenail polish she hadn't had time to change. It was time I had missed and wanted so badly. And for the first time in years, I felt we were close again. I felt like she really wanted me there to share this day with her and hadn't asked me out of obligation. In a sense, it felt as though my heart had come home and found my family.

We made it to the chapel in plenty of time to get changed and be ready for pictures by 1:00. And let me say, the chapel was perfect. It was very old, and decorated accordingly. It felt as though we were transported in time to a place where beauty and romance were the principle reasons for living. It was elegant and classic, without being at all overdone or frilly. It was the kind of place that made me want to get married all over again...to the same man, of course.

The photographer began the pictures outside, at the front of the chapel. It was a lovely, little garden shaded by magnolias and wrought with charm. She took pictures of my children first, then some of Teresa and I together. I stood next to my sister, gazing at her lovliness and awed by her confident composure. She put her arm around me and whispered in my ear, "I'm so glad you're here," then planted a kiss on my cheek. Our eyes met and I began to well up as the emotions overwhelmed me and came to the surface. It was a pivitol moment when I felt sure that all was right with the universe and we were all exactly where we should be. I returned her kiss, unable to speak for fear of ruining the makeup we had both worked so hard on. The photographer snapped her camera, capturing that moment in time forever.

The ceremony was beautiful. There was no feeling of dread or fear. It was a testament to love and a chance to find it again. It was joyful. It was a celebration. It was everything I didn't expect. They will have issues to work through. And it will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel confident they will make it.

I believe she loves him.

I believe he loves her.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but that puts the odds in their favor. Perhaps my sister got the fairytale after all. May they live happily ever after.

13 comments:

Mama of 2 said...

What a wonderful wedding story.
I'm glad that you and your sister bonded again. It's hard when you feel estranged from any member of your family.

I have good thoughts for your sister her new hubby and their marriage.

Thanks for the update.

Bttrfly1976 said...

That was a beautiful rendition. I am so glad you and your sister were able to share that time together and that she had your presence there in support of this huge step in her life. What a great weekend!

SuperMom said...

all i can say is-----damn! my wife is hot!


........hubby of supermom

thebarefootpoet said...

I'm so glad you and your family got to have the entire experience, from getting out of town, to the hotel, and especially the moments between you and your sister that words can't really accurately describe.

Julie said...

You are gorgeous!!! So glad the weekend turned out better than expected!

Grafted Branch said...

That's so great! A true-life happy ending. And you both look sooooo gorgeous.

Andreia Huff said...

See you are a girly girl! You look great! So happy all went well.

Diana said...

I'll toast to that...
You guys looked beautiful, sounded like a great itme.

Heth said...

*whistle* Supermom is a hottie.

Sounds like a wonderful day.

Melzie said...

beautiful pics, glad you enjoyed your trip to the "big city" LOL :) xoxo melzie

joyfuljourney said...

I'm so glad you were able to work out your feelings about sis' marriage. Bless her heart! There was a poem I loved as a teenager. The last line read "hug hugely, love bravely, and kiss without fear." May your sis open up and love with her whole heart again.

By the way, you looked GORGEOUS!

Anonymous said...

Three cheers for the fairytale. It does exist, you know.

Anonymous said...

Hey girl, Jim sent me your blog site and I really enjoyed reading it. It made me feel like I was still there and a part of your life. He didn't tell me "who" the author was and I read about half of it before I realized "this person sounds familiar" and looked at your picture, which then told me "this is someone I know"....I will make this site a "favorite" so I can keep up to date!
Love ya - Oorphanannie45