Tuesday, September 25, 2012

My Moment In Time

It was one of--if not THE most--perfect days of the year. The weather of September 16 was just that. Perfect. But so too was the wonderful event that took place on that day. I waited more than a week to write about it here because for me it was such a magical day that I needed all that time to savor the day and take it all in. As you get older you tend to look back more & more frequently on your accomplishments--or at least how often you did things right against those sometimes regrettable decisions of your youth. Gladly, most of my youthful decisions where good ones. Not all certainly, but most. But as I sat quietly on that September Vermont afternoon under a cloudless sky that seemed as blue as anything I had ever experienced before I realized that one of the truly important moments in my life was taking place....the marriage of my daughter. Yes, it was her day....and the day of her new husband. It was my wife Fran's day & my son Kevin's. It was a day not likely forgotten by the hundred some odd family members & friends who sat with me that day, or stood up for the bride & groom. But it was my moment. In that moment I thought of so many things. The very day she was born; preschool, dance lessons, high school cheerleader & college graduation. Singing her Irish lullabies as a baby & when she was a little bit older "You've Got A Friend" (the song she chose for our dance together). In that moment I recalled every evening kiss on the forehead that she never knew I gave her & all the smiles, kisses & laughs that she has given me. In my moment it was as if I had just realized what a beautiful woman she had become for the very first time. And so, as she walked passed me as a new bride I took a deep breath to help hold back the tears-- and I suppose fill my lungs with that special moment that was quickly slipping away. Hand in hand they both walked further & further from me as I reluctantly let my moment go and grasped the realization that her life with her new husband will no doubt be a long & happy one. Of that I am grateful to the wonderful man she married that Sunday in September......but mine will never be quite the same again.