That Dance

As I sit here right now…the waves our rolling in the ocean…finally beautiful soft wind wound down. Beautiful rainbows were seen, sun was felt, rain was had, and water swam in. Smiles. Relaxation fully underway now.

Most importantly is what I am watching from my balcony tonight. A private wedding..strangers. A beautiful young bride and her dashing and handsome new husband.

No matter who the people are, where they are from, where they come from, how much inconvenience they cause me (Jacuzzi now not only broken but closed)…I always cry at the weddings.

And never for the bride and groom.

But always for their parents. Always. Whether the parents are still married, divorced, there, absent…my heart swells for them.

The mother son dance and the father daughter dance are the most important things in my book. It is a parents farewell to their baby..their last dance.  A gentle push and lovely reminder into their new life. And it never stops getting to me as much as I try to hold back. It reminds me of parents bringing home their babies from the hospital and staring it amazement at them at home..weddings bring those same looks from Moms and Dads….their babies grown up? How could that be?

As I listen now to the song the groom chose to dance to with his Mom….I miss my sons. The song of gratitude, of thankfulness of pure love as he holds his little Mom in his big arms twirling her around the dance floor and her leaning her head on his shoulder. He will love his wife, but if she has been good, he will likely always love his Mom just a little tiny bit more. And that is the way it ought to be right?

That lady who worried about him, and loved him, and cuddled him, and defended him, and cheered for him, and caught his tears and taught him.

And the bride….so lovely. Her dress may have been the prettiest I ever did see and I told her so. Both her Dad and StepDad proudly by her side both adoring her.
 I picture my Protector, her Protector..giving her away. Walking her down the aisle, loving her , cherishing her, soaking her in. Holding her super close and breathing her in for the last time. His Girl. I picture her beautiful, and graceful, and regal, and smiling, and lit up. I picture her saying “Daddy you are soooooo cute!” like she says almost every moment of everyday. As I think of her…I miss her so much eventhough I am loving our vacation.

And we will be happy to pay for it all because it is our day as much as it is hers or his. It’s a celebration of everything we worked so hard for, and worried about, and waited for, and prepared for. It’s our gift to them.

So maybe it will be as it is in my dreams, and maybe it won’t be..maybe it will be everything I dream of and maybe it won’t. But I know that it will be a meaningful day for the parents of the bride and groom. Their final farewell really to the little kids they raised and a hello to the lives those young adults will have ahead of them. I can picture it so clearly.

The wedding day is the trophy the parents get. A big important seal of recognition, beauty, completion and honor. Not many of those days come along in a lifetime for parents do they?

Weddings are one of the few things that can easily bring me to my knees. And if the bride or groom happen to belong to me….very, very quickly.

I love weddings.

Love is in the air tonight.