I attached the photo to a text message and sent it to Brooklyn with the caption: “I said yes!”
She replied within seconds.
Brooklyn: ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? DOUBLE WEDDING?????!!!
Epilogue
Amount saved for our wedding: $10,345 (which will cover like one-fourth of my dress. Ha, just kidding.). Grayson keeps trying to convince me to let him pay for the wedding, but I’ve insisted on paying for half. Clearly, I’m still working on convincing him that he doesn’t have to be in control of everything!
Items I have: a beautiful strand of pearls my mother left me. I’ll wear them on my wedding day. For her.
Items I need: DJ, caterer, photographer, officiant… basically everything. Oy vey.
French phrases that I know: Mon fiancé a un mégot mignon… which translates to: “My fiancé has a cute butt.” ;)
Amount saved for our house: $125,405. Wondering where that money came from? Grayson took most of my rent from over the years and invested it. When I found out, it of course sparked a heated argument between us, but in the end, I couldn’t hate him for wisely investing my money. He swore (under penalty of death) to never meddle like that again and I promised to use the money for our house, something we’d share.
A few short months after my sister’s engagement party, I stood at the front of her wedding reception as the chatter started to die down. It was time for my maid of honor speech and my hands shook with nerves—no thanks to the little ensemble Brooklyn had surprised me with.
“Some of you may be wondering why I’m standing up here wearing a sombrero and a clown nose." I spoke into the microphone so that all of my sister’s wedding guests could hear me. “Well, during a certain speech a few months ago, Grayson and I may have gone a bit off topic. In an effort to pay me back, my sister decided that we had to wear these fetching ensembles while delivering our speeches this time around.”
I adjusted the bright pink sombrero so that it wouldn’t fall off.
“Obviously her plan failed because she didn’t realize how killer I look in a sombrero.”
The crowd laughed and I twisted my engagement ring around my finger, a habit I’d developed in the last few months.
“As most of you know, my sister is older than me by a few years, and because of that, I’ve always looked up to her.” I scanned to where Brooklyn sat, looking like a freaking Disney princess in her wedding gown. Her blonde hair was twisted into a complicated up-do and her makeup was flawless as usual. “When I was little, I’d follow her and her friends around, listening in on their gossip and stealing their makeup whenever they weren’t looking. She put up with my antics and convinced her friends to let me hang around with them even though I could hardly keep up.”
Brooklyn smile and pressed her hand over her heart.
“As we got older, I continued to idolize her and she continued to be my greatest teacher. She taught me how to paint my nails, how to throw a curveball, and how to run from a doorstep after you've just egged a house. While those are skills every young girl should know, it wasn’t until our parents passed away that she was forced to step in and teach me the most important lesson of all. Brooklyn taught me how to grieve for our parents while still understanding that we had a lot of life left to live. She taught me that we couldn’t waste life just because they were gone—we had to honor their memories any way that we could.
“I see Brooklyn honor the memory of our parents every day in the way she loves Jason. I watch the way she treats him, the small acts of love and kindness she bestows upon him every day, and I see my parents in them.”
Brooklyn glanced toward Jason with tears brimming over in her eyes.
“I know how it feels to be unconditionally loved by my sister, and I have to say, Jason, you are one lucky man.”
“Here, here,” Jason said, raising his glass and stirring a few laughs around the banquet room.
“I’ve also seen how much joy Jason brings to Brooklyn’s life. He treats her as if she’s the most precious gift he’s ever received.”
Brooklyn and Jason turned to one another and he dipped his chin to give her a quick kiss. I turned to my left, to where Grayson was standing, wearing the same clown nose and sombrero as me (though pink really wasn’t his color). He’d already delivered his speech, but he stood by my side, pressing his hand to my lower back for support and nodding for me to continue.
“So let’s raise our glasses to Jason and Brooklyn. May they always remember to cherish one another and may we all find a love as lasting as theirs. Cheers!”