Traditional fall weekends are usually times when family and friends gather for bonfires and football games. However, my family is notorious for breaking that tradition. For some reason, we find the late fall and early winter months a perfect time for a wedding.
Believe it or not, but I actually checked our family history and found no June weddings. So, it should have been no surprise to me when six years ago my oldest daughter picked a chilly day in late fall to marry. I remember that event as if it were yesterday.
When my daughter announced her engagement, plans were immediately made to caravan to Hobby Lobby the very next day. We needed to inventory supplies for possible wedding ideas. Our family was so excited to create a very nice wedding and reception on a very middle class budget. For weeks we drew up blueprints of everything from the altar decorations to the table center pieces.
As a family we always prided ourselves on “homemade.” We were going to make it all, and believe me we did, just check out Pinterest. Finally, everything was set for that day; everything from the napkin ring to the bride’s bouquet spoke my daughter’s name. And me, well, I looked around and if a wedding is really a reflection of the bride’s mother, then I was feeling pretty good. Class and creativity were being attached to my name. I was ready for this day, so I thought.
My son- in-law to be is wonderful. I couldn’t have picked a better guy for my daughter to marry. So, there I stood, and others followed my “awe,” as my husband walked my daughter down the aisle. I was breathless at her beauty, but then the preacher asked a question that shoved the air back into my lungs to prepare me for a roar.
He asked my husband, “who gives this bride away?” and my husband softly whispered, “ her mother and I” I was just about to release my fury when my husband quickly joined my side. He softly grabbed my hand and tenderly and tearfully smiled at me as he squeezed my hand. He was attempting to calm a savage beast.
You see, the day I gave birth to my children I morphed into a mother bear. I developed this unbelievable powerful protective sense about my cubs. They were mine and would always be, so when the preacher was ready to rob me of my cub, I got on my hind legs. My husband knew this about me, he has seen this response in me throughout the years. Don’t get me wrong, I truly love my son-in-law, but to part with a cub that was asking a lot.
Luckily that day, my husband was able to restrain me. And two years later, he restrained me again at our second daughter’s wedding. So now, I spend late fall weekends watching the grandbabies while my daughters and son-in-laws celebrate anniversaries. When my son-in-laws drop the babies and luggage off for their weekend get-away they always look at me and say, “now take care of the babies” and I smile at them and say, “and you take care of mine.”