"mom, you off tomorrow?..." a wedding post

mom, you off tomorrow?

yea.

ash, you off tomorrow?

no, why?

uh me and lindie have an

appointment to get married.

um, yea.

let me take you back a bit

and catch you up to where

this conversation took place.

it all started 26 years ago.

there was a precious little girl

with an amazing personality

and dashing good looks.

that's me i'm talking about.

she was two and she

was her parents' most favorite child.

then, one day,

along came this little bundle called

a baby brother.

at first, that little girl,

me, i

was unsure about the whole

having a baby brother thing.

however, it grew on me...quickly.

cope and i were two peas in a pod.

i always felt like i needed to protect

 him and take care of him

and make sure he always 

had the time of his life, everyday.

he meant the world to me.

we were constantly playing together.

we played school.

he harassed me in my playhouse.

he stripped my barbies naked

any chance he got.

and we cruised,

for hours, in my barbie car.

(ok probably not hours but a whole lot)

i adored that boy.

as we grew up,

we grew closer.

we protected each other.

we checked on each other.

we kept each other's secrets.

i loved having

brothers.

cope was always a kind soul.

he tried to be tough on the outside

but he was really this big teddy bear

on the inside.

he was silly and calm and so laid back.

he just enjoyed whatever in life

and i always knew he had my back.

then there was a season.

one that i hate to remember.

he drifted. 

he drifted from me.

from our family.

he went through some rough times.

and i worried about him.

constantly.

we didn't get along.

we argued every time we

were in the same room

and it broke me.

so much.

it made my heart ache.

i wondered if we would ever

get back what we had.

then...

along came lindie.

now i will admit,

i'm that sister.

the one that's kind of rude

to the girls that they bring home.

the one that takes a while to warm up.

but lindie...

lindie was different.

the minute she became a part of 

cope's life,

he changed.

he became himself again.

he turned his back on some

things that never should have

been in his life.

he smiled constantly.

he was silly again.

he became that funny,

sweet, caring, teddy bear

that i love and that

 i had missed so much.

lindie saved my baby brother.

she saved him.

she's so amazing.

she's the most beautiful person.

she's so good to our family.

she's so good to my brother.

she loves him for him.

she takes care of him.

she makes him a better person.

she will never know 

what that means to me.

so we were thrilled when

he proposed last year.

i cried.

way too much.

we were elated.

for personal reasons,

we always knew there wasn't

going to be a huge wedding.

but we were a little surprised

by the conversation that began

last week.

we were all at my parents

on a monday night just hanging

out and talking.

cope came in from work

and sat with us.

about an hour after he had

walked in, 

 the previous conversation took place.

i immediately texted my boss to

let her know my crazy brother

just told us he was getting

married and that i wouldn't be

able to come into work.

me and mom then

went into overdrive

with a list to get a few things

to try to make their day

as special as we could.

and you have to know my brother,

he loved the shock and craziness

of it all.

the day ended up being

perfect and the little ceremony

was so sweet and special.

it was only about lindie and cope.

just them and their love.

exactly the way it should be.

don't get me wrong,

it would have been nice

if the lawyer would have had

a cleaner office,

but...

in the grand scheme of things

who cares.

does it really matter

that there were more boxes

than a moving company?

i was so grateful that

one of my friends was able

to take the pics

at the last minute.

thanks again rachel.

you guys can check her out here

(Rachel Faith Photography)

we also were able to get her a bouquet

and added some charms to make it

as special as we could.

in the end,

i don't think i could have

pictured it any other way.

we have cope

and lindie

and they have each other.

and that's all that matters to me.

i love those people so much ya'll.

i swear.

i am enjoying watching us grow

and seeing where god is taking us.

and i look forward to lots of

nieces and nephews.

and hopefully the wedding of

my other favorite baby bro.

ash...