On Your Wedding Day

What seemed like a lifetime ago, but I remember like it was just last night, were the times that we would stay up, much past our bed time, (realistically until 10 o'clock, which happened to be late in the Geiler household) guessing and giggling over the boys that had our hearts. We talked about the future, school dances, prom, college boyfriends, proposals, and eventually marriage, and that we could totally, completely, and in all of their entirety, imagine each of these events, and the rest our lives with the boy that just happened to, at the time, sit next to us in our middle school English class. We had the dresses picked, the colors swatched, the first dance choreographed, and at least 12 baby names, first middle and last, for each gender all before morning. We thought it would be easy. Like the bedtime fairytales that Mom read to us growing up. Otherwise when Mom wasn’t available, the alternative was always Dad telling us these over-the-top "supposedly true" stories about his past life as a merman. In our minds, we had already found the one… apparently… and all that was left was to fall in love, foil the wicked plans of the evil stepmother, destroy the dragon, out-witch the witch, vanquish the sea monster, and ride off into the sunset in a pumpkin shaped carriage drawn by four white horses, that were in fact, just mice an hour before. And to an 8 year old’s mind that seems like a pretty simple feat. Heck it seems even easier now based on some of the things we’ve been through. Both of us. And we've seen each other through all of it...

The one thing I know, and something I can forever count on, is that you’ll always be there for me when I’m struggling with my dragons. And I have always been here to listen to your horror stories about your monsters. As the eldest, not only do you have the obvious obligation to tell everyone younger than you how to live their lives, but you also get to see and experience first hand the world without having someone pave the way for you. And growing up, I always saw that as a privilege, but thinking about it now I can’t imagine some of the overwhelming pressures and experiences that you had to face alone, and the place that put you in, especially while having two younger sisters looking up to you the whole way. I’ve always had someone to admire and use as an example to help me through things, but you didn’t. I want to thank you for that, and tell you how much I respect you. I’m so thankful that God gave me you as a big sister because He knew the strength and the wisdom that you would need not only in your own journey, but that I could learn from you for mine. I know this is the part where I say, "...and I’m so glad you’ve found your 'prince charming'", but Caleb, I want to thank you. She didn’t find you. She wasn’t looking for you. But God saw you both. And Madisen, God brought him to you. So Caleb, no, Madisen did not find her prince charming, but thank you for being hers, and showing her the love of the prince charming she never knew.

And now, it’s tomorrow. Less than 24 hours left until the Three Geiler Girls become just two, until the White family gains one of the most beautiful people that I’ve ever known, and we finally get to call Caleb our brother. You made it through school dances, heartbreaks, the proposal, the only thing left is to say “I Do”. And you’re both ready. The dresses are picked, the shoes are shined, the colors are beautiful, the flowers arranged, and all of us are here because we are ready as well. After each of you living 8,167 days apart from each other, you’re about to finish your last. Because although tomorrow is an end of an era, and as I lose a roommate, you, Caleb, and all of us will have so much more, because we get to watch, learn, and walk with you as you begin the greatest fairytale adventure of your life. Just like we’ve always dreamed.