When Did You Stop Dancing?

I went to a wedding this past weekend.

It was held in the Dallas area where I lived for over twelve years. I made lots of friendships
over that amount of time.

It started out as a family trip. We booked a hotel room in Frisco that had an indoor pool.
And two of our kids ended up getting a virus and stayed behind with my husband.

It was just me and one of my 8 year old twin daughters, Savannah. She
couldn’t believe that it was going to be the two of us. It is pretty rare to spend so
much time with one child when you have three children.

The weather forecast called for heavy rainfall for most of the weekend. The wedding
was taking place on Saturday night at 6:30. It was predicted to have the heaviest rain at
that exact time.

It was an outdoor wedding.

This was going to be a problem.

Luckily, the venue where Cheryl and her husband-to-be booked the wedding, had a
large indoor meeting space.

The ceremony was moved inside in front of the fireplace, a more intimate setting.

When we arrived, the rain was so heavy that it was hard to see to drive.

They delayed the wedding to wait for guests that called to say they were on
their way.

And while we waited, we were able to get caught up by talking to the other guests. I was so
excited to see so many people that I haven’t seen in a very long time.

I shared so much with the bride and her family.

Cheryl  and her mother were responsible for setting me up on a blind date with the person
that would eventually become my husband. Brent, who is Cheryl’s brother was in the
same graduating class and  they spent countless hours hanging out at each other’s houses.

My husband was practically a member of their family.

And I saw some friends that I worked with over twenty years ago. They were sitting a few
rows in front of us with their teenage children. I have no idea how many bridal showers,
weddings, baby showers and bachelorette parties we spent together. We were all in our
twenties when all these life events took place. It still is one of my favorite places that I have worked over the years because of this  very special group of people. 

I was trying to explain it all to my daughter. It was hard convey to an eight year old the concept of working and having so much fun with one another at the same time.

When the ceremony finally started, the bride walked up the aisle along with teenage
daughter Brayden, who is my son’s age and her youngest daughter Bailey.

There was so much symbolism in the vows that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

I couldn’t help but think about my friends in attendace as we heard them repeat their vows to one another.

“In sickness and in health…..”

In the past twenty years, we had all experienced so much. When you are saying your
vows to your spouse in your twenties, you don’t think about the life experiences that are
in store for you.

Life. Death. Health. Divorce. Marriage. Love. Sickness.

Yes, hearing wedding vows repeated in your forties takes on a whole new meaning.

As our friend Craig. who officiated over the ceremonies, pronounced them man and wife,
a loud clap of thunder was heard outside.  And everyone chuckled.

Tears and laughter are the perfect combination.

A few minutes after the wedding guests were shuffling out of their seats to wait on the
reception to begin, a crowd starting heading outside.

Bright, bold and vivid double rainbows had formed in the sky.

The sight was breathtaking.

It was as if God was recognizing their new life together.

We were all in awe of the experience and its meaning at that very moment. We finally headed back inside as the rainbows disappeared.

After we had dinner, the DJ started playing music.

And soon, they played songs from twenty years ago that Cheryl, Aileen, Crystal and I
used to dance to when we spent time together at work and on many more social occasions.

The more we danced, the more our kids were embarrassed. We didn’t care. We danced some more, for at least two hours.

It felt like we were in our twenties again; not a care in the world. 

No kids, no husbands, no mortgage payments.

We finally had to say good bye so everyone could make the long drive home.
I stayed behind with my daughter to help clean up.
I kept dancing as I loaded boxes and cleared off some tables but had kicked off my high
heel shoes.

As we were walking out to the car, my daughter asked me in her sweet little voice, “Why
don’t you ever dance like that at home?”

And I replied to her, ” I guess when I started having kids, my life just got busier.”

She then said, “Mom, you should be less busy so you can be happy like that!”

Congratulations Don and Cheryl.

May your life be filled with love, good health, laughter and lots and lots of dancing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay Sassy Y’all.