A Life Story...

She looked exactly like he had always imagined.

The sun was coming in the windows behind her, framing her in a halo of light. Her wedding dress was the most beautiful dress he had ever seen. She had never looked lovelier to him. Her smile, the one that he recognized as her very happiest smile, lit her whole face. No nerves, just joy radiating from her. 

His whole life he had been dreaming of this moment. 

Or most of it at least. 

The first time he saw her he knew that she was going to be the one he married. When he told her she had laughed and told him that she didn't want to get married. Understandable, considering they were four at the time. But he knew. He felt it in his soul. She was the one.

He brought her flowers, weeds really, picked on the way to the playground where he hoped she would be waiting. He brought her colored rocks he found when out on hikes with his Dad. He shared all of his best toys with her. He made sure that he saved the swing she liked best when he got to the playground before her. Anything he could do to make her smile he did. 

But it wasn't one sided. It wasn't just him bringing her gifts and saving her space and laughing at her jokes and listening to her tell her stories. Oh no. She had given him many things as well. He told people without embarrassment that she had made him a better person.

In first grade when the teacher had asked each of them what was important to them everyone had a variety of 6 year old answers. Cookies. Mom and Dad. Maybe a sibling. A favorite toy or action hero. She had said it was important to be kind. Mrs. Youngston had loved that answer. And so had he.

So he had tried to always be kind. 

In fifth grade he had overheard her talking to her friends about the new boy, James. All of the girls had loved James. He was from California and had that floppy blond hair that Californians seem to be born with. He was a practical joker and made all of the kids laugh. But she hadn't had a crush on him like her girlfriends all did. She said he was funny, and he was cute, but he wasn't smart and to her smart was important.

So he had studied hard and made sure his grades were always good. 

In high school he was going to take French for his foreign language, but she said that she was taking Spanish because she wanted to travel in her 20s and more places spoke Spanish than French. She also wanted to do humanitarian work in Mexico in her gap year and so Spanish made more sense than any other language. 

So he became fluent in Spanish. 

Thinking about high school reminded him of how gorgeous she looked at prom. He remembered seeing her that day and thinking that the only time she would ever be more lovely was on their wedding day. They had gone to prom with a large group of friends. Renting out a stretch limo and pretending to be wealthy scions of society. Trying on accents that they thought made them sound rich. James said something in French and the girls all swooned. Or at least almost all of the girls. 

After graduation he had told her he was going to spend a year volunteering with Doctors Without Borders. They had advertised for interpreters who could stay in an area for a few months working with the population, answering questions, helping them get the care they needed. She had actually clapped her hands when she heard the news. "I am so PROUD of you!" He had held that sentence like a beacon in his heart. She had decided to save her gap year for after college.

They wrote to each other that entire year. He told her all about the people he was seeing. The differences that were being made. How he was thinking about medical school. About how his formal Spanish was helpful, but he was learning the regional language was very different. She told him about college. About the weather. How the classes were harder than she had thought they would be. How her roommates were only interested in parties. Then about the sorority she was pledging because she had heard that those connections would help her professionally for years. She was always thinking of the future.

So was he. 

When he came home that summer they met at the playground. She was sitting in her favorite swing. He had brought her presents from a market in Mexico. They had talked all afternoon. She had already been in the sun enough that she had a sprinkle of freckles across her nose. She had 9 freckles. Four on one side and five on the other. She always had. He thought of them as the sign of summer. They came out in June and wouldn't start to fade until October. Just seeing them made him think of watermelon and pool parties. 

That Fall she gave him a tour of her sorority house. Via Skype. He was going to school in another city with a better pre-med program. It had been a hard decision, but he knew it was the right one. He would do his undergrad studies while she finished her degree, he was confident he could finish in three years, then she would take her gap year while he got settled in med school. She could start work while he finished school, or get her Masters at the same time. He had the money and scholarships to pay for his school and so any student debt she had they could manage as soon as he started practicing. They could travel like she had always wanted. Especially with the volunteer work he planned to continue.

He was confident. She had taught him what was important and he had agreed.

He looked away from her for a moment to take in the congregation. So many familiar faces reflecting her joy back at her as she walked up that aisle. He recognized many of her sorority sisters, some there with their own husbands in tow. There were many friends of theirs from high school as well. James caught his eye and winked. He smiled back, he hadn't been sure he was going to make it in for the wedding. James had his wife by his side. He had met her at USC and they had married right after graduation. Already the parents of two little cherubs with that floppy blond Californian hair. 

The minister began to speak, "Marriage is a blessing. How more fully blessed is the couple that has the support of their family and friends as they begin their new life. Who has the honor of presenting this woman to this man as they begin their journey together?" He watched as the tear formed in the corner of her father's eye. "Her mother and I, on behalf of all of those gathered here today, and those who could not be here with us to celebrate this joyous day do."

It was just like he had always imagined the wedding would be. 

Except he had always thought the marriage would be to him.