at The Wedding

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that we survived my daughter¹s wedding last

Friday and did great as a bridesmaid. We¹ve been practicing and

reading social stories all summer but the day before the wedding, at the

rehearsal, was horrible. She got her period that day and was crying

and bursting out with screams and grunts. I just didn¹t see anyway she would

be able to tolerate the wedding. But Jen said that she didn¹t care if

stripped down and threw a fit in the aisle, she was going to be in her

wedding. Thursday night I couldn¹t sleep because I was sure the next day

was going to be disastrous.

Well, on Friday, we all went to have our hair done and tolerated hot

rollers for about ten seconds which is a record. She even let us put some

makeup and lip gloss on her. The rest of us went to the church to get

dressed but stayed home and Ken got her dressed and brought her with

him. When she walked up in her bridesmaid dress, she looked so pretty and

so grown up. When she realized she was dressed like the other bridesmaids

and had the same bouquet, she was really happy and even cooperated for some

of the pictures. Her teacher for the last three years also came to help and

she was happy to see her. But she balked at walking down the aisle when she

saw other people there. Also, this was not in our parish church, it was in

an older bigger Cathedral and it was kind of intimidating. So I held her

hand and we walked down together. Everyone said they thought that was

sweet.

During the wedding she didn¹t utter a peep. She did shred the bouquet and

dangled the ribbon but for the most part she was pretty good. It was a full

mass so it lasted about an hour. Her teacher was there just in case she

needed to leave, but we never had to remove her. She seemed to really enjoy

it. My brother, her uncle, who she loves, was the priest and so that helped

make it familiar too.

At the reception, she sat with her teacher and her teacher¹s husband. I

didn¹t have to worry about her at all. We had the reception at a restaurant

on Puget Sound near where ships leave the locks from Lake Washington to go

into the Sound. sat at a table outside on the deck and watched all

the ships go by all night. She loved that. She danced a little with her

dad and after the cake was cut and all the toasts had been made, her teacher

took her back to our house so I could enjoy the rest of the reception. It

really was a nice evening.

The next day we had a big party at our house and just retreated to her

TV room. She¹d had enough people for a while. The photographer brought

over a few photos and there is one of about to hug Jen that makes me

cry and realize that going to all the effort to make part of this

special day was all worth it.

Oh, and the smartest thing I did was to put in overnight camp this

week so I¹m getting a real break. It is Sweet!

Take care, Therese