I remember, strangely, sleeping very well the night before. Marla and I spent the night at our apartment and Pete had one last night at his parents. We had decided not to see each other until we met at the alter.
The day was a blur- my (very large) bridal party at the salon, where there was a cake made for myself and the other July 4th bride and her party! It was a whirl of little girls, makeup, and hair extensions but finally, we were all beautified, my veil in place. Getting to the ballroom, screaming when I saw my cake (good screams, of course! Plus, OMG GIANT CAKE!), pictures and happiness and lugging my eleventy-billion pound dress around until 4am because I couldn't bear to take it off. There were speeches and eating and dancing and tears- all pretty typical wedding stuff, except it feels anything but typical when it's your day.

Of course, marriage isn't easy. Life isn't easy. It's the lesson you learn the farther away you get from your wedding day. Living with someone and making a life is hard work. I read the greatest summation of this very point in an article today: "We make the choice, again and again, to come together despite our imperfections." Goodness knows that in the past six years, Pete and I have flaunted our imperfections. But, in the past six years, we have also flaunted our very best selves. I'm a person who lives and dies by quotes and definition and meaning, and I read the lyrics to our wedding song and it's still so perfect for us. "You're still here...," Alanis sang on our wedding day. And we are.
It's all a balance, the hard work tempered by the memory of such an amazing day, when we were just at the start of our journey. But, the work is good, and it makes the love easy. So we celebrate our "more perfect union" on the day our country celebrates its independence.
(that perfect quote was part of a piece for Momastery written by Cindy Brandt, who writes at Cindywords.com)
1 comment
Sobbing watching that video. I can't believe how young all the kiddos are!!!
Upside DOwn
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