It’s been a year and a half in the making: Finally, this past weekend you were the flower girl of my friend Kaylie’s wedding in Arcadia, Indiana.
I’m not sure who was prouder: you, or me.
You looked like such a doll in your flower girl dress.
You loved getting to be not only part of the wedding ceremony itself, but also being able to join in all the fun at the reception.
It was a special time in your life, and even though you’re only 5 years old, I believe you will always look back at our trip to Indiana with fond memories.
This past weekend was a first for both of us. It was the first time either of us had ever travelled to or spent time in the Midwest.
You were asked to serve as an usher for my friend Kaylie’s wedding near Indianapolis.
She needed some appointed young men to direct guests from the parking lot to the ceremony area behind the barn, where the reception was held.
You did a great job helping people. I am proud of you and I could tell you appreciated being asked to truly help out, in a sort of an adult role; not just a kid’s!
This has been a long time in the making… that this weekend, after well over a year of planning, you are going to be the flower girl in our friend’s wedding!
I heard that Mommy is going to accommodate you as you get your hair professionally styled for the event. It’s going to be a big deal!
I will be so proud to be taking pictures of you the whole time. I know that you are going to feel like a real little princess.
Not to mention, this will also be the first wedding you’ve ever gone to that you’ll actually be old enough to remember.
Last weekend was very special, following your preschool graduation.
Our friend Kaylie is getting married this fall and has selected you to be the flower girl for her upcoming wedding in Indiana.
So she drove down 5 hours to spend the weekend with our family in Tennessee, during which we all went to David’s Bridal to pick out and purchase your flower girl dress.
You tried on 3 different dresses, but you ended up going with the first one; which I knew you would… because it’s a shade of light pink.
Kaylie even got you cool sunglasses to match!
I am really looking forward to seeing you in action as the flower girl this September.
As of today, my wife and I have been married 10 years. Admittedly, that is a fact I am very proud of, as it is an honor to be married to this woman.
I am even more in love with her now than I was on July 5, 2008.
That’s something I can honestly say. Because over the course of the past decade, we have both evolved as individuals, while at the same time we have chosen to grow together in the same direction.
Therefore, I can now appreciate who she is as a person more than I could 10 years ago. We have made “happily ever after” our daily choice.
It helps that my wife is full of grace. I think that was an underlying trait of hers that I always knew that attracted me to her.
Now at age 37, with the life experience of 10 years of marriage, and 7 and a half as a parent, I have undeniably evolved.
I can’t see how a man could go from bachelor to married man and then father, over the course of a decade, without being forced to change for the better; as he is stripped away of his sense of selfishness, and trades it in for selflessness.
Back in 2008, at age 27, I knew so little about adulthood and how the world actually worked.
I am not the same person I was a decade ago; neither is my wife.
With each passing decade ahead, I know we will continue to evolve as individuals, as well as together.
We knew each other for 4 months before we started dating, then dated for for a 11 months before we became engaged (nearly half of that time she was overseas in Australia serving as a nanny), then were engaged for 5 months before we got married.
And now 10 years have passed.
That is our story so far. We’ve got the rest of our lives to figure out what comes next.
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