From Barb Coenen
Creston
Close your eyes… Imagine that after months of anticipation, after hours of labor, a nurse hands you a bundle. A bundle of hopes, dreams, joy and excitement. A 7 pound, 12 ounces bundle of love that is your new baby girl.
From that moment of pure joy, you begin to imagine the other moments you will have. The first smile, first steps, first day of school, dances, graduations… wedding. You plan in your mind, the perfect life, the happiness of your little girl. You look forward to a lifetime of love, with her and for her.
Those moments come. Baby smiles, Christmas mornings, first day of school, dance lessons, best friends, birthday parties, kindergarten, grade school, awards, high school, jobs, graduation, college, grad school…
And then your little girl falls in love, and finally... the wedding.
Imagine that among the happiness, the joy, the anticipation of the moment when your little girl (because she will always be your little girl), marries the person of her dreams, you also have controversy, rude comments, hate mail…
Imagine that strangers, politicians, friends and neighbors have an opinion on who your daughter should, or should not, marry. People who do not know you, or her, proclaim, sometimes loudly, sometimes anonymously, sometimes hatefully, that she should not marry the person that she loves the most.
Now imagine that the day has come. The day you planned and worked toward. It is beautiful, late summer in Iowa, but the shade and the breeze make it lovely. Friends and family gather. Some moms have told their youngsters that this wedding will be a little different than some they have been to, and the youngsters share their main concern, “but, there will be cake, right?”
Generations of love are seated. The music begins. The adorable flower girl drops rose petals down the aisle. Sisters and brothers walk arm-in-arm.
Your little girl, arm-in-arm with mom and dad, stops for a kiss. And then all eyes turn. Here comes her bride.
A ceremony so full of love that the officiant is near tears all the way through. The vows, so loving and personal, and fun. And then, they are married.
Back down the aisle they go, the brides, the attendants… and then you step out and take the hand of another mother. The other mother of the bride. The other mom, who had the same hopes and dreams handed to her 30 years ago in a little pink bundle and dreamed of this wedding day also.
The perfect wedding day. The joining of two lives and two families in a lifetime of love.
The person sending the anonymous hate mail in Creston will not win, hate never wins. Love always wins.