A Month of Wedded Bliss

My little sister, little JJ, the girl who locked me in the laundry room and threw a dead squirrel at me, has been Mrs. Brown for a month. Surprisingly to many, Jessica was born to be married. She has oooed and ahhhed over her new hubby, Bob, for the past month, relishing in newlywed bliss and making each of their experiences as a new married couple as memorable as possible.

Jessica had spectacular attention to detail for her wedding. She drew out tablescapes, planned, rearranged, and created her vision for her perfect day. I sincerely hope that they night was everything she wanted it to be. That the little things that didn't pan out were ok with her and the big memories that were created were wonderful for her. Jessica custom made a lot for her day and hand picked many items for the wedding/reception. There were times she was frustrated, but I get that, she wants things a certain way and when they do pan out her joy is tenfold and when they were difficult to obtain then the frustration was all the more increased. She should know, the food was fantastic, the music was perfectly planned, and the weather could not have been custom ordered to be any better. I am so glad for her.

More importantly, I am glad for her commitment. I am glad that she has faith and trust in a man and that she is willing to tie herself to him, to make a promise and a pledge to work for one another. I got more than choked up giving me speech on her big day, as I reflected on how Matt and I have "journeyed" together over the past (almost) nine years. That being together has made every difficult step of the way easier and that the joyous times have far outnumbered the tense times in our relationship. Matt and I have faced some difficult times in our relationship that have been manageable with having one another by our side. Jessica and Bob will face these times too. There will be lost family members, hard times with work, challenges with children (maybe...hopefully!), general stress of life, and times when you struggle to breath on your own much less pay attention to someone else's needs. But I assured her that they will be able to work through it. I assured them both that sometimes it is a fight and a struggle, but we have found that so worth it. If you look at your relationship as a road, you can forge the road your own way, finding your own path, but you can also know that there are others who have gone down the road before you to help you from time to time. And reflecting on it now, there may be times that life picks you up and puts you on different roads, sometimes together and sometimes apart from one another, that is when the real work comes, when you have to push through to get back on the same road together.

I am so excited to see where things go for Jessica and Bob. I am immensely happy for them and know that good things lie ahead.