in a land far south of here,
in a time over 2 and a half decades ago,
there were 2 little sisters and one beautiful wedding.
The older sister was asked to carry flowers in the wedding along with her cousin. The little children had just turned 6 years old.
The little sister had just turned 3 years old and was thought to be too young to carry flowers in the wedding, let alone make it down the aisle.
The 3 year old did not agree. The girl's kind mother sought to ease her youngest daughter's disappointment by scrimping and saving fabric to make a matching dress for the 3 year old. She loved her beautiful pink dress that bounced when she walked and fluffed when she twirled. This led the little girl to believe she was also in the wedding.
When the day came, the youngest little girl was devastated to learn she had no flowers to carry, no aisle to walk down. She sat with her uncle during the wedding and cried.
I was the little sister and I remember many details from the day. I remember the dress clearly. I remember sitting next to my uncle and watching the other children walk down the aisle. I remember watching pictures being taken and seeing my sister grin for the camera in her matching dress.
As a real, live, sorta smart, grown-up, I completely understand why I was not asked to be in the wedding. 2 and 3 year olds are like temperamental cats. But at least cats are potty trained. I get it. I see the reasoning. But that itty-bitty girl inside still wants to be in the wedding as a flower girl.
It is hard to believe that Mandy is near the age that I was for that wedding when my sister was a flower girl and I was not. She is 2 and a half.
Mandy's temperament is much different than mine. I was shy and cared so much about what people thought. Mandy is far more social and oozes self-confidence. She doesn't have a shy bone in her body. Mandy is certain the world revolves around her, so it leaves very little time for analyzing social protocol.
Emma is in a wedding in a few weeks. She has her clothes all ready to go and is more excited than you can believe. Mandy could care less. Yet, when I overheard this conversation, a little piece of me felt like an itty-bitty girl again who cared a whole lot:
Emma: I'm going to be in a wedding and you're not.
Mandy: Why?
Emma: Because I'm a big girl and you're not.
Mandy: Why?
Emma: Because I'm 5. And so is Benton. He's 5 too. You are not in my wedding.
Mandy said, "ok" and ran off. She really doesn't care. And I shouldn't either.
Sniff. Sniff.
Don't worry about me. I went on to be in plenty of weddings. Not as a flower girl. I was a candle lighter once and a bride's maid 5 times. Better yet, I got to be the bride once! I got the pretty dresses and the pretty matching shoes and I got to be in plenty of photographs. (For the record, I've never worn any of those dresses again).
Mandy will be okay too. She has a new dress, although she mentioned new shoes the other day. I'm pretty sure she is manipulating my sympathies. Such a girly-girl.
This wedding is a special one for me. It's for my cousin and his sweetheart. They have a beautiful relationship and history that proves God writes the best love stories. And they asked me to be the photographer. Ack! Do they know that I have no idea what I'm doing? I'm honored and privileged to do it and will excitedly share the pictures with you after the wedding.
*I'm praying that none of my pre-wedding nightmares come true. So far, I've been blind and still tried to photograph the wedding. I forgot the battery to my camera. I showed up late. I got lost on the way even though I've been to the site a hundred times at least. I got to the wedding and there was another photographer... a real one.*
5 comments:
Nicely written:-) I'm sure Mandy will be the bride that dances down her wedding aisle instead of stepping slowly.
For the record, I 'pulled' Russell from Andrea's wedding as a ring-bearer. The stress on me thinking he'd probably flip out and run the other direction was too much. Thankfully, as a boy, he probably won't hate me for it in the future;-)
As always, your pictures are beautiful! I remember how excited I was to be able to be in Aunt Joann's wedding as her flowergirl--I even got to wear a beautiful flower crown thing. :)
I laughed out loud. Reeeaalll loud. It's official- I love you. Lets make this friendship official and have a party!( or see each other, same diff)
I'm glad Mandy is not going to be emotionally scarred. And I'm glad you've dealt with yours:) And now I'm praying you will have some happy dreams of everything going right and when the time comes that you will thoroughly enjoy your part, and Emma's
You'll be just fine...just do your thing!
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