ALLI

                                                           

Have you ever had one of those moments in your life when you don’t know whether to laugh or cry? Yesterday was one of those bittersweet moments for me. We went to the cities to witness my granddaughters wedding to her high school sweetheart. The newest member of our family-- Alli’s husband is my kind of guy. He’s filled with patience and humbleness beyond his years. Whenever you give away a daughter, you want to feel that she is going to be loved and respected for the rest of her life and I so got that feeling last night. Yes, Nick finally got his princess

You see Alli was always so loved by her Grandma and me, as all of our grandchildren are, but there is something in Alli that just set her apart. Oh, she’s always had that little bit of a temper and some fire in her belly but for me it was not a bad thing, just unbridled passion for whatever she believes in. Unlike many of us who go where our eyes take us, Alli, seemed to follow her heart. She was that little girl that was always bringing home birds and animals to nurse them from their injuries. Her bedroom was filled to overflowing with stuffed animals and mementoes from wherever she had been in life. She attracted friends like a bee to honey and was always faithful to them. Yes, Alli was just so loving and she still is now and has always shown it.

Then came Nick into her life. Nick was so shy; sometimes you didn’t know he was there, when he was. But you didn’t have to look far for him if you wanted him-- you just looked for Alli. It was more then love for Nick it was infatuation too. For over a year after their engagement we would get almost daily reminders on face book from her of when that magical day was coming. Pictures of the two of them together in almost every possible place, always smiling, always clinging to each other.

Then the big day was upon us. It was an outdoor wedding in what could have been the Garden of Eden, it was that beautiful. I could only think when I saw it yes-- this was Alli. Not some stuffy church full of statues but a stage built right here under the heavens with just the beauty of nature to accent it all. The minister at the wedding said, “Girls start planning their wedding when they are three or four years old” and I believe that to be true. Yes guys truth be told, were just the last piece of the puzzle.

Then it was time and as she came down the aisle, she was so beautiful, so radiant and Nick’s wet eyes shined in the late day sun and it was if he couldn’t take his eyes off from her. As my faithful companion and I were escorted down the aisle by Alli’s brother, there was small table set up next to the altar and there almost at center stage was a picture of grandma taken on her wedding day, just as I remembered her so long ago. My heart stuck in my throat. It was Alli’s tribute to her and she wanted all of us to see the woman she will never forget. I only hope for Nick and Alli that they have what we had for so many years. So in the end my son gave away his only daughter, but there is an old saying that “Your son will grow up and take a wife but your daughters your little girl for the rest of your life.” For grandma she had her moment in the sun she so richly deserved.