Weddings

My nephew Beau married his lovely bride, Jessica, 2 weeks ago on Mother's Day weekend. We thought the wedding  would be very hard for us, but also felt we should be there to watch Beau and Jessica start their lives together. While there were certainly moments that were difficult and sad for us, I'm happy to say that the weekend was filled with much more joy than sadness. I'm sure that is because there is no better place to be when you have suffered a tragedy than surrounded by family. But I think it was also because I knew how much Emma would have loved every minute of the weekend's celebrations and how present that made her in everything we did.


Beau was the third of Emma's cousins to get married and both Sarah and Emma were honored to be a part of the weddings of their first two cousins. Thomas' wedding to Leslie came first. Emma was about to turn 12 and Sarah was 7. Sarah was quite shy about her turn as a flower girl, but Emma ate up her role as a junior bridesmaid. She loved rubbing elbows with the older girls and being part of the special celebrations: the bridesmaids' luncheon, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.


The best part for her, though was the wedding reception. She hung out with her older cousins and had the time of her life. She was right there in the middle of everything. The pictures from that event speak for themselves. Emma was having a blast.


A year and a half later Emma and Sarah had the privilege of being in their cousin Liz's wedding to Josh. This time Emma was a full-fledged bridesmaid. There was not much time between these weddings, but it amazes me to look at the pictures and see how much Emma had grown up. In preparation for this wedding, Emma got her hair and make-up done. The combination of the mature hair and make-up and the sophisticated dress made Emma look much older than her 13 1/2 years - and she was thrilled about that.  Us? Not so much. Much to our horror, one of the bartenders offered Emma a martini! Fortunately, she had the good judgment to let him know she was not nearly old enough to accept that offer.


Once again, Emma had the time of her life at the reception, dancing the night away with cousins and other members of the bridal party and feeling a little sad when the whole wonderful weekend had to come to an end.  No wonder my mother used to refer to Emma as her "party girl." Like her Gram, there was nothing she liked better than a big family party.


That's why at Beau and Jessica's we did our best to honor her memory by burning up the dance floor in classic Emma style, especially when they played a Michael Jackson song. I'm sure we fell short, but she would have admired our effort.


Enjoy the pictures...