That’s me and my baby sister. At 3 years apart, I would say she was about 2 in this picture and I was about 5. Flash forward about 28 years and we arrive at this past weekend. The families from far and wide all gathered in a Florida beach town to see her walk down the aisle. As in this picture, I would be by her side. Our father passed away 3 years ago, the same day and about 8 hours after the youngest flower girl was born. Even though his physical presence was absent, his words and spirit were certainly there. His ashes were split over 3 sets of wind chimes and one of those sets was present on the altar where his little girl would take someone else’s name. I know he approves and I felt his smile and arm around my shoulder as I escorted my baby sister, a beautiful bride, down the aisle. The job was harder than I expected but I did the best I could.

Some moments will live with me forever. Powerful moments I never could have imagined, but feel so honored to have been a part of. Standing in the hallway waiting for the doors to be opened so all could see the bride. Her arm in mine and shaking like I’ve never felt her do before. Deep breathing to calm her nerves were heard. I did not try to make her laugh or distract her thoughts, I only expressed how beautiful she looked, how proud our father would have been, and how happy I was for her and her about to be husband. He is a good man and he loves my sister very much. I felt honored to reply “Her mother and I” when asked who was giving away the bride.

At the reception, we shared a dance to Dave Matthews “Sister”. This dance was far easier than when I had to address the room for the toast usually reserved for the father. I did not say much aside from thanking everyone for coming and how happy I was for the happy couple. This was not supposed to be my moment. What I did have was a poem my father wrote while he was alive to be read by me at my sister’s wedding in the event he did not live to see it. This was the first time I read it out loud and only the third time reading it at all. Although that’s generally a bad idea, I felt if the emotion spilled from me as I read it, I would share it with everyone. Somehow though I felt an amazing calm come over me and I read it without fault. It was everyone else in the room who spilled emotion. My tears came after I was finished, saw the room, and hugged the bride. Here is what I read:

There are so many things I wanted to say
That will now be left unsaid
Accept these words I’ve written to you
They will speak for me if I am dead.

My spirit will reside with you
Especially today
I’ll try somehow to help you
With whatever comes your way

I wish you lots of happiness
The most any bride ever knew
In his arms you’ll find yourself complete
And the children you bear will too

Save a little cake for me
Well; eat it and say it’s for me
I don’t know if they have cake up here
Now, I have to go find a beer.

This is just the synopsis of things from my perspective and here is a sample of my favorite pics stolen from the wife’s camera. You can see more on her site.

Flower Girls

My Dad's Wind Chimes

Getting Pinned

My Flowers

Beautiful Ladies

Brother, Sister, Mother

Proud Papa

Escorting My Mother

The Walk of a Lifetime

Husband and Wife

A Special Dance

Special thanks to my wife for snapping the pictures, and a bigger thanks to all our family, friends, and new family who made the journey to share the special occasion with us. It was a grand celebration.

I remember the eve of the biggest day of my young life. Everything was set, everyone was here, and we were all watching the weather channel. Our practice was perfect, the dinner after was wonderful and everything looked to be going as planned. But something was looming and closing in. It was a hurricane. The hurricane we would actually get married in. Georges was it’s name and it caused all kinds of problems but nothing too severe and the show went on anyway. But the night before, already a nervous evening, was made that much more nerve racking as family and friends were faced with the idea of being evacuated from their hotels, which they were. I remember that night very well. Sleep was not easy to come to me that night and the swirl of thoughts in my brain were too many to count or control. Eventually I did fall asleep and sleep well I did.

Tonight my baby sister will experience that same nervous anticipation. Only she has no hurricane to be worried about. The rehearsal is this evening, everything is in place and tomorrow will be the big day. The hair will get primped, the makeup will get applied, the dress will be put on. My babies will drop the petals to an array of aww’s and camera flashes. Since our father is no longer with us, I will slip into my tux and proudly walk my baby sister down the aisle. My mother will be crying and I expect a few others will as well, possibly even myself a little bit. It will be beautiful and wonderful and afterwards my sister will be married and I will have a new brother in law. At the reception I will make a brief toast as per usual for the father of the bride. Only instead of the father of the bride giving it, it will be me, the brother of the bride, reading a special poem written by the father of the bride to be read at his little girl’s wedding in the event he wasn’t alive to read himself. After which, I will dance with my sister to the Dave Matthew’s song Sister and a grand party will ensue.

I’m so proud of you Chrissy, I truly am. I am very happy for you and David and I am honoured to welcome him to our family. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness and blessings. You will be a beautiful bride and David is a worthy groom. I love you both with all my heart and look forward to sharing moments in your lifetime together.

May the light of friendship guide your paths together. May the laughter of children grace the halls of your home. May the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, A twinkle from your eye. May the Spirit of Love find a dwelling place in your hearts.

We are quite fortunate to live in an area that allows us to pretend to be on vacation most any weekend we want. Yesterday we had so much fun at Epcot we decided to go back today. Epcot is such an amazing park and so incredibly impossible to see everything in 1 or even 2 days. Even with small children, there are still things we wanted to do but didn’t get to. Why? Because we live here. We casually stroll through the parks soaking in things we likely would have missed and just limit our “must-see” to 2 or 3 things. We’ll catch anything else sometime during the year. We stayed up late for the fireworks and as though we went to a hotel, went to bed, slept until we woke up, had breakfast and went back again this morning. Only instead of a hotel, it was our own beds. Nice. We have this luxury for another month with such glorious sunshine and warm temperatures and even a nice breeze. After that our passes are lacked out for the summer season to which we say thanks for telling us when it’s super crowded. Seriously, thanks!

Greetings from the future!

Look, I am at Disney World but I found a stick!