Tomorrow

I'm getting married in about thirteen hours. It still hasn't really hit me yet. Family and friends have arrived, we had the rehearsal and I just talked to one of my bridesmaids for hours, but it isn't real. I don't know that it will feel real until I don my dress or I enter the church or I say my vows. My mind is still running at high speed thinking about breakfast plans, transportation and the procession order. I feel like I've been waiting for ages to get married, but now I just want all the planning to be done so I don't have to worry about anything.

Then a part of me realizes: I'm marrying my best friend. I'm standing in front of friends, family and God, stating my intention to be with this man for the rest of our lives, through good and bad, helping each other to Heaven.

It's hard to believe that five years ago I didn't know this man. It's hard to believe that our first hello was so recent. I feel as if I have known him all my life sometimes, while at other times I think about all the things we don't know because we have yet to experience them.

When I met Christopher, I was a younger, naive, bright eyed freshman in college. I remember the first time I ever saw him enter our classroom and could even pick out the shirt he wore. Now I am still a young, naive, but tired-eyed twenty something. The next time I see him, I will note the way his tie brings out the blue in his eyes. When we face each other for the vows, I will remember each time he has stood before me asking if he could take me home, asking if he could hug me goodbye, initiating our first kiss, grinning at me at the airport, waiting for me to take my first Communion when I was Confirmed, asking me to marry him in front of Notre Dame in Paris...

Our days together have already seemed so long and we have so much to look forward to. I have grown and learned so much by knowing him. Through all of life's highs, lows and question marks, I can imagine no one better to have at my side than Christopher.

Here's to us, C.

God grant that we may find mercy and grow old together.