Elope

When I met my BFF some 30 plus years ago, I never thought I'd be logging on this sunny and gorgeous afternoon to view her nuptials via streaming Vegas Web cam. But that is exactly the spot I was in today, watching the entire event live from the Little Chapel cut through various camera angles with a cheesy yet endearing musical intro. And I really wanted to be there, but alas...

The two have had a tough year... a big move, some health problems for him, on again/off again status. I think they were just both so relieved to be alive and done with the drama that a quick in-and-out Vegas-style seemed the most appropriate way to get it over with. A part of me thought it was probably a good thing. Why waste time and money on a big wedding when you know her mother is sitting on the sidelines, twiddling her thumbs, waiting for a grandchild. And my friend seemed OK with that... flying to Nevada, just the two of them, leaving the rest of us family and friends to witness the proceedings via the miracle of the Internet. They'd had her grandmother's wedding ring reset. She had selected a nice, sensible cream sundress. All seemed well with the world... until, last week, a mere five days before the wedding, she called to see if I would check out a dress on Craig's List.... not just a dress, but a full-fledged wedding dress. Looking at that posted snapshot of a dress... a dress that was in the process of getting ditched by someone whose marriage hadn't work out and was looking to cut her losses... I knew she was having second thoughts on the easy Vegas wedding. She wanted the white dress, for sure.

So today, after logging on and waiting to watch her wedding from a drop down menu of a dozen or so other weddings lined up on either side... it made me a little sad. The music started, and she walked down the aisle looking beautiful and happy and smiling the biggest smile I've ever seen. I watched them both, from the closest view I've ever seen of a couple on their wedding day and was really, really happy for her. It was only when the camera panned out to the empty pews, that I knew. My friend... the one I've trusted since the first grade... the only shot I had at ever being a maid of honor... the girl I giggled with and spent the night with a million times and told my deepest, darkest secrets to.... the woman who loves her parents and sister more than I've ever seen anyone love a relative... I know she would have wanted nothing more than to turn away from the greatest kiss of her life to see her sister, her mom, her dad, her aunt, her cousins, friends... and me... filling up those pews. I'm so happy she finally got her day, I'm just sorry none of us were there to love her.