My Turn
There’s a scene at the end of the movie ‘27 Dresses’ where it’s Katherine Heigl’s wedding day. She’s narrating the day and when she gets to talk about her bridesmaids she says that when it was her turn, her day, everyone showed up for her just as she knew they would. The weeks since my engagement and leading up to our wedding day this so perfectly sums up my experience. Years ago I wrote a blogpost saying that one of my goals in life was to cheer my people on. I have spent my adult life trying to live up to this goal. I have made countless birthday cakes, hosted get togethers, sent thousands of cards, searched for perfect gifts, flown not only all over the US but even across the world (Australia) to show up for my people.
When we got engaged at the end of June my friends took up the cause and they have made every moment of this engagement journey special. From Jessie & CJ taking our photos the night of our engagement to the thousands of likes, comments, congrats, and messages Blake and I both received, to Deon & Alisha planning a bachelorette day, to Candy, Alyssa, Rachel, and Ruth flying in to host a shower with my Mom and Glenda - my people have shown up big. They have celebrated both me and us. They oo’d and aw’d over my ring, they helped me decide what to wear to celebrations, they got their nails done with me, and helped me figure out what to register for. Every minute of the last few weeks my people have shown up for me (and for Blake) and I couldn’t be more humbled and honored to be in such an incredible community.
In the midst of this season I find that I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude. Our people have supported us from day one (literally, tracking me by phone on our first date to make sure I didn’t go missing via boat) and they continue to support us today. As I’ve worked on my vows one of the things I wrote into them is that I will purpose to keep us surrounded by a community that helps us through tough times and cheers us on in the good times as well. I place that high a value on community. To our people - we love you. Thanks for making this the BEST couple of months ever. It has been the most amazing honor to be part of your moments and the most humbling gift to celebrate ours with you.
