My heart wouldn't stop racing.
There were so many people there.
I should have been used to being watched; being on stage; the center of attention.
I could control the audience; normally.
What was so different about that day?
I could give a great show; on any other day.
Why was I so giddy?
I couldn't help but smile.
Was that out of character?
Could I really have been so nervous?
I knew exactly what I was getting myself into.
This was what I wanted; wanted my entire life.
I was ready.
Right?
Looking back I can certainly feel all the excitement of my wedding day. That was the day I had prayed for most of my life. It was all happening on that day.
Do you find it strange that a male in the twenty-first century would be looking forward to the day he would get married? Sadly, I may perhaps be an exception to the so called "masculinity" that dominate our American society. Where most men today would be feeling as if their independence was quickly coming to an end an overwhelming sense of freedom had awaken me the morning of my wedding and pretty much has stayed with me till this very day so many years later.
I saw my beautiful wife-to-be for who she truly was. She was The One; the one person I could say anything to; the one woman who would know me perhaps better than I would ever know myself. She was to be my best-friend, my soul mate, my "everything". If it was positive it applied to her; my wife to be. What man would see such a person as a weight to burden, a chain to bind him?
On my wedding day I was overjoyed beyond description, but my emotions were certainly quite evident from the boyish grin on my face; it could not be contained. This was it, I was ready. My dad and brothers were by my side the entire morning and I was just waiting for the traditional words of wisdom to come flowing through their mouths. All I got were smiles, maybe a few nods. Nonetheless, I knew what the day held in store for me; the start of life long happiness.
As I stood at the alter waiting for the star of the show to enter and beautifully process down the isle, she to was used to being on stage and knew how to command attention, some thing marvelous happened. My starlet wife-to-be peeked through one of the small stained glass windows that decorated the chapel doors. That was so like her to take a quick glace out into the expecting audience just to see if the house was full. With over Five Hundred people invited to our wedding, YES, the house was full. By the way, of the five hundred who attended I maybe knew five of them, perhaps six. However, for that brief moment in which I saw my fiancé in a parade of colors through that small window the attendees disappeared. All of a sudden I broke out in laughter.
That goofy girl anxiously looking out into the chapel was the only person I wanted to have in my life. I knew who she was and I loved every bit of her. My laughter must have seemed as if I had lost my mind; it must have been most certainly unexpected. My brother beside me also began to laugh, surely to give the appearance of having been in on the joke; pure genius. His laughter led to the laughter of many more sitting in the chapel. What happened next was only too predictable. My wife-to-be just had to take another peek to see what all the fuss was about. This in turn led to me laughing even harder, which led to even more people laughing even louder. After a few moments my brother put his hand on my shoulder and asked if I was okay. His real concern quickly quieted my temporary insanity. To this day, most people who attended our wedding aren't too sure what exactly was so funny.
Finally, the chapel doors opened and the pianist began to play. So many of the people I loved began to slowly make their way down the isle all followed by the most beautiful woman I had ever seen arm-in-arm with my father-in-law-to-be. My father-in-law bares an amazing resemblance to Tom Sellleck. He really does. It's gotten him lots of free coffee throughout his life. So if you image Magnum P.I. walking down the isle of a Catholic Church with a gorgeous cherry-blond at his side you pretty much can see what I saw on that magical day.
Closer and closer dad-and-wife-to-be inched toward me; larger and large my smile grew. The moment finally came for me to take my Love's hand, but first I had to shake the hand of the man who would prove to be the pillar of strength in the life of my family in the distant future. (We'll touch on that in another chapter.) I was expecting a simple, firm hand shake and a smile. What I got was the grip of a man who was allowing me to take one of his most treasured gifts given to him by God. This man shook my hand and did not let go until he looked me in the eyes and said, "Take care of her as if your life depended on it". Up to that point this man had maybe spoken a hand full of words to me; he wasn't a talker. I actually never took these words as any sort of threat. There was never any hatred or anger in his eyes. In fact I took his words just the way he intended me to; as words spoken from faith and experience. As I was marrying his daughter that day, he and his wife were celebrating their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. The man clearly knew what he was talking about when it came to sustaining a long, fruitful marriage.
To his wise advice, I replied with a brilliant, "Yes, sir", and then took the hand of my lovely finacé. No matter how hard she may have tried to cover it with her laced vail there was no hiding the obvious; she was crying.
Blessings,
Michael
