high: we listed our house last Tuesday evening with a pipe dream of selling and buying a dream house in downtown rome built in 1910. the first people that looked at our house 6 days later, made an offer we couldn't refuse.
low: filling out all the paperwork and signing on too many dotted lines...stress.
high: stellar inspection report on new house.
low: tornados devastating rome later that night.
high: hanging out in the closet with wil, em, pb, the cat and the fish for 2 hours. it was scary but we made the most of it.
low: no power for 2 days at school.
high: taking em to get photos for the deb ball. she and her friends are the ribbon bearers. she has been with most of these girls since they were babies. no words for this.
high: getting up with em at 4:00a.m. on friday morning to watch the royal wedding. she was so excited. i made coffee, she cut the strawberries and we baked cinnamon muffins. one of my childhood best friends that was equally as fierce of a diana fan as me, came over and brought scones. we sat in our pjs in the dark and watched the whole thing. just like i did 30 years ago.
so while watching and listening to the commentary and all the guessing over what the dress would look like, who designed it, how she would wear her hair, what her sister's dress would look like, etc., i got so nostalgic. i lovvvvved princess diana. what would she have thought about kate, the wedding, her baby boy getting married? we waited with anticipation as she exited the goring hotel for a glimpse of the dress just like the rest of the world. emily thought she was beautiful. we watched as she waved with such poise and smiled just like a princess. we watched her arrival and her sister (in the more stunning dress) assist her with her train as she prepared to walk down the aisle. her final footsteps as a common girl. when the commentators finally hushed and the music started, i was surprisingly engulfed in the realness of the moment. i wasn't expecting this. maybe it was early enough for my mind and heart to be open. somehow, things were coming in crystal clear. i hoped em was absorbing some of it too.
i was watching and thinking about all the hype and all the speculation that has gone on for months leading up to this ceremony. yes, they are celebrities of sorts, but they are still people. and this is still a marriage. an oath. a spiritual thing. i don't know why the significance of that was resonating so loud with me. just watching these two people, joining their lives, knowing how hard marriage can be, knowing how completely precious it is...somehow the seriousness of it all was overshadowing the hype i had been feeling for months.
the thing that struck me the most was a quote that one of the ministers said from st. catherine of siena. "be who god meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." i was almost breathless when i heard that. i tried to repeat it in my head over and over again so as not to lose it. i looked over at em all wide-eyed and buried in the blanket and prayed that she would get that. i thought about it all day. if both of my children could grasp that thought, they will be ok in life. be who you are meant to be. be authentic. don't try to be anybody else or live up to anyone else's expectations. i'm trying not to let go of that moment.
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