Well it has been quite a weekend for me. My youngest daughter, Rhonda turned 27 on Sept.12 and this past Saturday Sept. 22 she got married.

Rhonda is no bigger then a sprite and although she is 27 now she looks like she is about 15 most of the time. She is about 105 pounds soaking wet. To me she is my baby and as I told her, when she is 103 she will still be my baby because she is the youngest of my daughters.

I walked into her house the morning of the wedding and she was upstairs. I went to the kitchen to talk to her father about something and did not see her come down the steps. The photographers had arrived and it was busy between them and the wedding party running here and there finishing the last touch ups of their hair and makeup and being sure their dresses looked great and hunting for the lost pantyhose that no one could find.

I left the kitchen to return to the living room and my heart caught in my throat. Before me stood a vision of loveliness that brought tears to my eyes very quickly and an extra beat to my heart. 

Instead of my baby standing there before me, I saw a stunningly beautiful young woman. She was a vision and looked like she should have been sitting on an ornament shelf out of the touch of little fingers so she did not get broken. 

I looked at her and all of a sudden the years melted away and so many pictures flashed through my mind. I saw a tiny baby lying on my tummy a few seconds after her birth  -- saw in my mind her first steps -- I heard in my head her first words -- I saw a little girl in frilly panties strutting across the floor with her dolly tucked under her arm -- a little girl covered in strawberry juice from stealing the berries out of the basket as I made jam -- I saw her dressed for her first day of school and saw her in her graduation gown in the next instant. ( One of my favorite photographs of her ) The pictures flashed through my mind and suddenly I saw myselt standing there when I was about 18. I never realized how much she looked like me until that very moment.

I gave my head a little shake and brought myself back to reality and the day at hand. Here stood my little girl all grown up and looking like a princess in a wedding gown. Her hair up in ringlets and pearls peeking out from under the curls and her tiara sparkling in the sunlight. Her features are so china doll like and delicate. 

She took my breath away as she stood there looking back at me and I marveled to think that she was part of me. My tears were happy tears.

After the photographs were taken we headed for the church and as I sat through the lovely ceremony I looked around me at my other children. 

My beautiful daughter Tonya and my son-in-law Mike  ( who is as much my son as if I had him myself ) and my new son-in-law Brian along with my gorgeous granddaughters Shantel and Justine all looked so fabulous all dressed up.  I quietly thanked God for the abundance of blessings He had bestowed upon me. At that moment I felt like the luckiest mother on earth. How thankful I am for my children!! How proud I am to be their mother, mother- in- law and grandmother!!  As we left the church and with the cameras flashing all about, I continued to watch my children and revel in the sweet smiles and the sounds of their voices.  

The supper was amazing and the reception hall was absolutely lovely, all decorated with tables covered in white clothes and rose petals strewn on each one amongst the glasses and dishes. During the supper and the speeches and amongst the sounds of chatter and laughter I again thanked God for this day of everyone sharing in such happiness and beauty.

The music was excellent with mainly a wonderful mix of 50's & 60's but a bit of everything else thrown in. Everyone danced and intermingled beautifully and not a problem in sight. The wedding and reception went off without a hitch and I totally enjoyed myself. I spent time with my children and family and friends and I will treasure these memories forever. 

Today my hips are bothering me something fierce and my body is screaming at me that I am not used to being on my feet for so many hours or sitting in a car for so much driving time and I am kind of tired from lack of sleep over the weekend but I would not have traded it for anything on earth. My only regret is that I would have liked to have danced more than I did. 

However, I did boogie with the rest of them for a few dances and my greatest pleasure was dancing with both of my sons-in-law because not only are they both so handsome they are both wonderful dancers.

One of the other wonderful memories I made this weekend that I will treasure forever was with my oldest granddaughter Shantel. On the night before the wedding she and I sat in our motel room and turned out all the lights and watched the city lights from our 8th floor window until 3 in the morning. We sat chatting about grandma / granddaughter things that meant so much to just us until we realized we had to be up in a very few hours.

Ah yes it was a weekend that will bring me soft quiet smiles for many years to come.

I did learn another thing this weekend and that is that no matter how old or how sore a grandma is -- the twist is still a great dance and I can still jive with the best of them. Just not for as long as I used to  :) 

On that note I think I will go soak in a nice hot tub and see if it helps this achy old body. 

take care of you 
hugs,
Misker