Part III

I have just woken up from what has been my third wedding dream. Everyone told me I would dream crazy things in the weeks leading up to the big day, but much to my disappointment, I didn't see so much as a sugarplum. I happen to be a lucid dreamer; I dream in spy movies and apocalyptic events- I couldn't wait for the big show! But the wedding came and went and I continued to dream of unborn Kyrianne, of work at the grocery store and of course, the occasional meteor-destroying-earth-and-the-resulting-evacuation-bus scenario. However, since the wedding, I have dreamt thrice of white dresses and orange bouquets only to wake up melancholy that it is all over. But the sweet memories persist.

After Erin and I finally made it back to the hotel and showered, our buddy, the photographer came over to take some shots of us getting ready. Erin fixed my hair, which I loved and Shea even found a window in feeding times to stop by the room and say 'we' (to the hair-doing that is). We scrambled to get our things together and make it over to the church where my lovely friends were waiting. Al: making the communion bread. Laura: scratching out a misprint in the program (OMYGOSH, that's another epic tale) And Christy: setting up parking signs and waiting with my much-anticipated soy latte. Our buddy, Mike got some shots of us slathering my face with Mary Kay and before I knew it, it was time to pass out the bouquets and take one helluva lot of pictures.

I've witnessed the moment before where the bride and groom see each other for the first time- it always feels like an odd thing. Like the emphasis becomes the outfit, the surprise of seeing each other in that old, traditional garb: the white, the tux, the shiny cheeks and foreheads. In fact, I have loathed this moment to a lesser scale: when going on dates or to formal dances, that horrible precarious moment of walking down the stairs, thinking- am I trying to hard? Is this justified, its only a dance? But when Mike told me its time to see Patrick, I looked up at the door to the sanctuary and somehow I didn't feel any of it. It is a testimony to how close we've gotten over the past couple months that I burst through the door with a grin and we smiled like it was Scott field and we were going to the antique store with a stop at the vegetable stand.