My gorgeous little sister is officially married! What an amazing couple with incredible friends. I have never been to a sweeter ceremony – sincere, intimate, pretty much perfect. All of the love surrounding this entire weekend was fuel for my soul.
If you read a couple of posts back, I was really nervous and anxiety-ridden about this trip because of my own demons from the past. Getting myself from Austin to Tulsa was a huge leap of faith for me. From the second I walked into the rehearsal dinner, all of my walls fell straight to the ground. Gone in an instant (ala Keyser Söze, except with love instead of mobs and drugs and such).
Although I hadn’t met many of Samantha’s friends, they were instantly recognizable, as I have heard hilarious stories about them for as long as I can remember and I’ve seen their pictures and antics together on Facebook and Instagram. I felt like a fan girl as I hugged their sweet necks Friday night.
And then there was Saturday. Wedding day.
My dad has never looked so handsome, my step-mom was beautiful and glowing, Meg was stunning and graceful, her boyfriend Aaron was adorable. Adam was everything I thought he’d be – and more. I couldn’t imagine a better partnership if I tried – he and my sister are truly each other’s lobster.
My heart was engulfed with so much happiness all weekend long!
I got to see my Aunt Hoja and my Aunt Myra (my dad's sisters - love them with my whole entire heart!). I got to talk college football with my dad, Fantasy Football with my sister’s new mother-in-law, and parenting with my step-mom. I needed that so very much.
I have never known what it feels like to fully be part of any one family, and this weekend I felt a part of something so much greater than what I imagined...
My step-mom’s oldest daughter got married, their reception was today, my step-mom’s birthday was today, and she still made the time to pull me aside before I left today to let me know how much she cares and how much she understands everything swirling around in my mind and my world and my headspace right now. I needed to hear her words, I needed to feel that level of comfort and the “it’s-gonna-be-okay”-ness and the “this-too-shall-pass-wisdom" and that’s exactly what I got from her today.
I’ll be forever thankful for her words.
I will tell you that each time my dad comes to visit, I cry like a baby when he leaves. I just can’t help it. I’m a [mostly] rational, 42.96 year-old, and without fail, it still breaks my heart to tell him goodbye.
Being on the other end of that? Saying goodbye to my beautiful family and their friends? Much more difficult! I quite literally had to stop road-side on “Airport Terminal Road” to redo my makeup before I turned into the rental car return lot. It was bad.
And it was also so good.
Life never ceases to amaze me with the millions of blessings it bestows on me.
This weekend was no exception.
My step-mom’s words gave me the strength I need for whatever lies in my path during the next few months.
Watching my sister marry the man of her dreams in front of her very best friends was magical and faith-restoring and exactly what I needed to remind me of the importance of being grounded and confident and secure.
And now that I have made the flight from Tulsa to Dallas, while I’m waiting another hour to board my flight home to Austin, I am going to enjoy myself a big fat cheeseburger with some sweet potato fries and ketchup. Because I fit my 42.98 year-old, apple-shaped body into those dresses I vowed myself to fit into (thanks to the 800 slices of pizza, that “extra” breakfast taco”, and the countless calorie-ridden deserts and breakfast pastries I’ve turned down through the course of the last four months)! And because of the confident and secure mentions in the previous paragraph...
Here’s to the newly-wed Stockleys - cheers and best wishes for a beautiful lifetime together!
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