The Dress

My beautiful and talented 21-year old daughter is engaged to be married in mid-July. We're delighted and the whole family is involved in activities that will prepare us. This is the most independent of my children - she has been in charge of her life and environment seemingly since the day she was born. We are watching her plan and organize this event just like anything else in her life; decisively and confidently.

This wasn't the guy we expected her to marry. She dated pretty much one guy all through high-school years and hung on with him until earlier this year. We love him. We'd accepted him as a member of the family, and it felt somewhat like a divorce when she made a different choice. We've had to get to know this new guy. We've had to deal with the fallout from the broken relationship. It hasn't been easy for anyone. And yet we have come to love the new guy and we hope he will be around forever. We're happy with her choice. He's a great guy. We think he'll be a good husband (whatever that is!)

So yesterday, while it snowed, my daughter was buying a wedding dress. And saying it that way makes it sound quite simple, but "Buying a Wedding Dress" is not an event. It is a process. And it is not a simple process (1-go to store, 2-look at dresses , 3-pick one, 4-slap down the plastic.)

To prepare for this, she has determined wedding colors, found a reception hall, determined the level of formality for the wedding, sought input from such a variety of family and friends, and determined price range. It may not be rocket science, but let us just say it is closer to rocket science than it is to my 4-step process previously listed parenthetically.

Since I am not the groom, I got an on-line glimpse of the dress and a full verbal description of the dress and decision process last night. She managed to stay within her self-determined budget (of course.) And the dress is gorgeous.

When it was my turn to talk, all I could say without falling apart was, "That is very nice honey, just beautiful." That may seem a poor translation of "it is gorgeous, you will be beautiful and I am so proud," but since she is my little girl and knows me all too well, she knew exactly what I meant. Did I mention she has always been extremely bright?