A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future. ~Author Unknown
This last week has been a busy one with helping a friend and her daughter prepare for her wedding today. Caitlyn was just a little bitty thing with the biggest blue eyes you have ever seen, when the family moved onto our corner of the neighborhood.
Last Saturday, Mary Beth and I hosted her bridal luncheon for her mother, grandmother, bridesmaids, mother of the groom and flower girls. It was a lot of fun to get everything ready for it and decorate everything with Mary Beth. Steve pitched in with the house cleaning and taking the pets "away" while the luncheon was going on.
She is using a peacock theme which came in handy since Mary Beth had used that same idea and we had lots of peacock feathers!
Mary Beth and Caitlyn played constantly on the weekends and during the summer. Greg played with her younger brother, Zack. The Coltrains had an above ground pool that they all loved swimming and playing in together.
We never went out to eat or had them over for dinner. We've never gone to a movie with them or taken a trip with them. But they were some of the best kind of neighbors....we shared lawn care tips, mowers when ours weren't working, went trick-or-treating together, borrowed cooking ingredients frequently and helped move furniture. After our children got older and lost touch as ours went off to college, we didn't see them so much but knew they were always there. Cindy and Caitlyn were faithful to help out when we needed pet sitters and someone to pick up our mail when we went out of town. After we moved to Van Buren, Caitlyn was our house sitter when we went to Rachel's wedding in Florida for a week.
All of this said, my thoughts came last night as I sat at their rehearsal dinner. We were invited, I suppose, because we are friends. It was very nice and the food was yummy.
But, I had the strangest awareness as I sat there watching everyone of my own daughter's weddings and how very different it is to just "attend" one. I found myself thinking back on the wedding week and particularly the "day" of the weddings.....so many last minute things to do and so many happy tears.
As I hugged the mother of the bride last night, I told her that it is important to take a deep breath and enjoy every moment because it will be over way too soon. And you want to have those memories because it is so important to remember.
Along with a million photos, I'm thankful to remember today.
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