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Dora hurried over to share her ideas. After all, it was her party. Matthew dropped the boxes carefully on the floor and then grinned.

“Less than a day away, Dad. Are you excited?”

“I’m excited,” I told him honestly. “It’s not every day your son gets married.”

“Hopefully, it’ll only be this one day,” Matthew said.

“Dora looks excited.”

We watched as she waved her arms around, excitedly sharing her thoughts with Granny and Helena about how the room should be arranged for the party tonight. Helena looked thoughtful, but she listened to every word Dora spoke, and then nodded in agreement.

Helena was wonderful at encouraging Dora and helping her to get the things she wanted most.

“She couldn’t sleep at all last night,” Matthew told me.

“It’s a big day. If I remember correctly, your mother was the same way before we got married.”

“Really?”

“Truly,” I laughed, shaking my head.

It was strange to think about that special day. It really had been so long ago. It felt like it was an eternity ago, even though it had only been 30 years. Sometimes the days seemed to crawl by. Other times, they seemed fas

t and wild. On days like today, it was easy to look back and feel like everything had happened in the blink of an eye.

3

Helena

The wedding rehearsal went off without a hitch.

Bob and I stood at the back of the tiny church where, 30 sweet years ago, the two of us had gotten married. Now we stood, watching our son take the same vows we ourselves had taken, and my heart melted a little bit.

Matthew looked at Dora with such love and devotion that it was hard to believe he’d once been a little boy who didn’t know what he wanted to be or do when he grew up. Now he knew. He had an incredible job, and he’d found an amazing bride, and they were about to create a lovely life together.

They’d already had a life together up until this point, of course, but they were solidifying that love. They were making the choice that yes, they wanted each other. They were choosing love.

They were choosing hope.

And I…

I remembered being a bride all of those years ago. As I watched Matthew and Dora practice their vows, I sat in the church pew and thought back to thirty years ago when it had been me standing up there.

*

Bob looked handsome. He smiled, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. Then he smiled at me.

“Are you ready?” Bob whispered the words, and I grinned, nodding.

Oh yeah.

I was ready.

My parents didn’t think that I was. Nobody thought that I was, but this was it. This was the moment I’d always dreamed about. Ever since I was a little girl, I’d wanted to get married in this church, and I’d wanted to get married to this man in particular.

Bob was the first person I’d ever loved, and I’d known since I was seven years old that he was the one I wanted to be with forever.

“You look beautiful,” he told me, running his eyes up and down the bright red dress I’d carefully chosen for the rehearsal. My mother had been insistent that I wear white, but I thought red brought my eyes out a little better.


Tags: Sophie Stern Ashton Sweets Romance