Has it been that long?

Hi Everyone,



Daina and I awoke this morning only to realize that, on this very day, nine years ago we exchanged our wedding vows. Many of you were there on that day. I don't know about all of you but it certainly doesn't feel like nine years to us.



What sparked this was not the fact that today actually is our ninth anniversary but rather I received an email request from Facebook. It was my niece and godchild, Keelin, asking to confirm her request for me to be added as a friend on her personal Facebook page. I clicked on the link so I could confirm her friend request when I noticed that she had a picture of herself and a friend (it looked like they were at an amusement park... Darien Lake, I'm guessing) posted on her webpage.



For those who may not remember, Keelin was the flower girl for our wedding. If I close my eyes, I can remember it as if it had just happened seconds ago. Walking up the aisle with a basket of white rose pedals was this little, cute as a ladybug, four year old girl who was all smiles while looking at the faces of people she had never seen before that day. She was dropping a few pedals here and there when she reached my aunt Dolores sitting in the aisle seat of the front row to Keelin's right. I don't profess to know the exact inner workings of a four year old girl's mind but, for whatever reason, Keelin did a double take (probably just to make sure that it was INDEED her great aunt she was seeing), grabbed as many flower pedals out of the basket as could fit in her tiny hand, and proceeded to florally assault her great aunt by pelting her with a well aimed handful of white rose pedals. It was, of course, done out of a child's playfulness as Keelin was grinning from ear to ear. Everyone in the church that witnessed this, burst out in a mild wave of laughter... even the pastor. It was one of those preciously spontaneous moments in life that, had I the power to change it and just have everything go as smoothly as it did for the wedding rehearsal, I would not have done so... to this day. I thought (and still think) that, even though weddings are very formal affairs, they are also a coming together of people from different walks of life, to witness the bonding and beginning of love between two people at its deepest level of commitment and feeling... the bonding of two families to mark the beginning of a new one. I couldn't think of a better way than the lighthearted laughter brought about by Keelin to make everyone there relax and realize that they were among family. Ok, if I go any further, I'll be run out of town on a rail for needlessly digressing. My point was that I remember it with crystal clarity.


So, I get to Keelin's Facebook page and click on her picture to get a better look. Starring back at me was no longer a cute little four year old, all full of smiles and giggles, but a beautiful young girl (probably still full of smiles and giggles if my experience teaching summer school to 9th graders holds true across the board). My cute little Keelin is now a beautiful young girl on the threshold of becoming a woman. Here was the evidence that nine years have passed since Daina and I placed a ring on each other's finger. Those nine years have been kind to both of them, but in different ways. The changes that I could see in my niece, I couldn't (and still can't) see in my wife... she's still that same beautiful bride standing with me on the altar and looking into my eyes. I hope that your past nine years have been as blessed as mine.

Kevin