Saturday night Cathy and I attended a wedding reception. The young lady getting married is the big sister to two of Aaron's childhood friends. Carolyn was one of Aaron's favorite girls. Seven years older, she was the big sister to all of the kids in that group. To Aaron she was all of the big sister and surely there was a time he had a little crush on Carolyn.
I will always remember Carolyn for being the girl who taught Aaron how to dance. I saw Aaron dance with his Mom, his cousin, his Grandma at a wedding, but I never saw him dance with a girl-friend. One of those things I surely took for granted days past.
Saturday night, Carolyn was the most beautiful bride I had ever seen. Her siblings, Aaron's friends, Erik and Abbey moved me with their youthful poise. The exuberance of life in them magnified the one dimensional fact of death. Aaron's friends are growing, laughing, living, changing. That's what young adults do. They're real people with hopes and dreams; plans and emotions. These friends also keep Aaron close to their hearts. Aaron is a memory and photographs. He doesn't change and I miss him. Jenna found a picture of Aaron in her purse that day. While looking for a tissue during the wedding, she pulled a photo of Aaron out. A picture she didn't know she had. Aaron had written her a note on the back "To my sister..."
When the bridal party came into the room, I felt the wave of emotions come over me. For so long, Erik and Aaron were close friends and always together. Seeing Erik without Aaron is still not right. Crying is good and sobbing is better. A wedding reception is not the right place to sob, so I held it in as best I could. That's a good way to get a headache and aching, burning eyes. I did.
Cathy and I left shortly after dinner. We know when to say when to our emotions. Leaving the hall, we came face to face with the bride, Carolyn. We wished her well and said thank you for all she had done for Aaron. Carolyn said "Don't leave before the dance!" Of course, Carolyn must dance.
Much peace,
Tom
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