A Love That Lasts: We Will Not Be Alone, The Wedding That Gave Us Hope
As a single, divorced female who has been on a LOT of first dates lately- going to a wedding can be a nightmare. Even when you love the bride and groom you can be filled with a sense of anxiety and dread and an overwhelming sense of your own finality: I am alone. And weddings many times can make you feel even more alone if you are not there with someone.
But this one did not.
As the bride, one of my dearest friends Stephanie said in her honorary speech to her mother (and pardon the paraphrasing): ” You taught me my worth, and to wait for someone who was worth having me.”
Stephanie is one of my very favorite people on this earth. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen her get emotional, ever, until yesterday. She generally is making me laugh, especially when it comes to her stories about her and Andre- the man who is now her husband. These two who met at Kroger- yes they met at Kroger. Now to be fair, as we learned at her bridal shower, Stephanie apparently has got some kind of grocery store “juju” and regularly has men trying to hit on her there. But back to her and Andre.
It was a meeting completely by chance- Stephanie at that time didn’t usually go to Kroger, but it was down the street from our Junior League meeting and she wanted to stop in for a few things. She would see a man in the magazine aisle staring at her n sweats, a ball cap, and reading Popular Science. Her first words to him would be “You don’t read Popular Science- nobody reads that- especially not in Kroger.” And that is how this epic romance would begin.
I absolutely love watching Andre and Stephanie together because they completely crack me up. I would meet Andre for the first time at Tori and Jerry’s White Party two years ago (or was it three?- I think actually it was three). He was screaming at the Georgia game and we would high-five over something. Stephanie would shake her head and say “he acts a fool”.
So when I saw my friend who makes me laugh so much in tears, clutching her father’s hand, as she came down the aisle I almost lost it myself. To hear her speak her words of dedication to her parents, thanking them for everything, in tears- and to see him reach over and dab her tears away- it was everything from any cheesy romantic movie scene but with all the genuine love that no movie can ever feign.
I love these two more than they can know, and they have made my life richer for allowing me to partake in their love because in doing so, they have allowed this cynical little heart to believe in love again.
Stephanie and Andre, I love you both and I can’t wait to hear about the honeymoon- I know there will be some kind of tale to make me laugh. And, likely, to also bring a tear to my eyes.
Molly
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