Missouri Wedding

This past weekend Zan and I attended a wedding in my hometown.  Since I moved in high school, I haven't revisited Jefferson City very often, so it was exciting to get to go and to take Zan.  For two whole days I felt completely relaxed, delving back into memories of childhood, sharing part of my past with Zan, and enjoying the charm of Missouri in October.

But this was no ordinary trip; this was a Very Special Occasion-- my childhood best friend was getting married!  I've known Maggie since we were in daycare at the Little Learner's Lodge.  We quoted the Care Bears together as toddlers, and though we went to different elementary schools, we continued our friendship thanks to some wonderful parents who drove us across town for play dates.  We played dress-up and dolls well into middle school, and growing up we spent every birthday and Halloween together.  We went to Disney World together, and Cardinals games, and The City Museum in St. Louis.  In high school, finally (!) we attended the same school and got to see each other every single day.  We went to homecoming together.  We were in The Wizard of Oz together, on the Speech and Debate team together, and we both worked on the freshman play-- Maggie choreographed and performed a beautiful solo dance.  We wrote to each other every day while I was at French camp and the first Christmas after I moved away Maggie came to visit.

And on Saturday I watched her walk down the aisle.  The weather was perfect: just the most beautiful October day Missouri has ever produced.  Sunny and cool, and all the leaves changing colors.  I've never cried at a wedding before, but when I saw Maggie in her wedding dress-- looking just like Belle, so absolutely gorgeous and radiant-- I suddenly couldn't help it.  I've known Maggie so long that I literally do not remember life before I knew her, and there she was, getting married.  I felt overwhelmed with love for her, and happiness for her, and a kind of sadness, too-- like Jo March or Anne Shirley, as Meg or Diana got married.  Everything changes, and while this is a joyous change, it does mean that we'll never be two little girls together again hosting the M&M talk show in my living room.  But that night at the reception I got to watch her dance a sweet, loving first dance with her new husband and a funny, lively dance with her father, and then later I danced with her and she led me in a swing-style dance and we laughed about our Dancer's Alley training, and she's still Maggie and I could not be more thrilled for her, or more grateful that I got to share a dance with her on her wedding day.