”
Have you ever seen her look so beautiful?
”
This was the question that was asked of me by my aunt as I stood
and watched my sister and her new husband greet family and friends
at the conclusion of their wedding ceremony Saturday in
Colorado.
But I could pinpoint it down to a single moment.
“Have you ever seen her look so beautiful?”
This was the question that was asked of me by my aunt as I stood and watched my sister and her new husband greet family and friends at the conclusion of their wedding ceremony Saturday in Colorado.
But I could pinpoint it down to a single moment.
Just 15 minutes earlier, I stood along with the groom’s brother, who was the best man, and other groomsmen that included my two brothers and the groom’s best friend as my sister turned toward the groom and locked their hands.
From my vantage point as one of the groomsmen, I was able to see my sister facing the groom with her eyes wide open as she smiled up at him as he began to recite his wedding vow.
And that was the moment in time when my sister looked more beautiful than any time I can remember.
Dressed in a radiant gown and with a brightness in her smile and a lightness in her step that seemed to almost raise her off the ground, I could only guess that she was at the same time excited, happy and terrified. But she didn’t look nervous or scared at all.
On the most memorable day of her life, when Sharron Steffenson would become Mrs. Dustten Scott Jagger, she certainly looked more beautiful, radiant and confident than she ever had before.
I looked on with my hands trembling uncontrollably as her eyes opened wide and a smile on her face as she intently listened to Dustten making his vow to love her forever.
I had no idea what was going on in her mind at that exact moment, but I couldn’t fathom how she wasn’t shaking as badly as I was and how she could keep from crying tears of joy. She seemed completely calm and totally in control of the situation, while I could barely keep my legs from giving out underneath me.
But, then again, my sister has always been the strongest person in the family.
The oldest of four kids, my sister had to deal with growing up with three little brothers and no sisters. Instead of playing with Barbie dolls, she ended up playing quarterback. But she always wanted to play football with us, and we always let her because she had the best arm in the whole neighborhood.
And as my sister then began to say her vows, I continued to stand and look on, but my mind drifted far away, thinking back to the days when my sister used to run around and find Easter eggs with us or play kick the can. I remembered how she all of a sudden started to grow up without us, hanging out with friends and then boys from school and left us behind to do her own things.
Then I remember how when I got to high school I was all of a sudden her equal again and we began to have all the same friends again – and quickly regained our closeness and family bond.
I remembered back to her high school graduation day, working with her and my dad at an engineering company in Colorado and then her college graduation just a week after my own.
You know, I might have been the younger brother who sometimes got in the way, but at the same time, I thought about how I watched my sister grow up just a step before me. Tears began to fall from my eyes as I thought about the memories we shared and the thought of her bright future ahead.
And later on during the reception, when Dustten removed her garter and it fluttered through the air and into my hand, I realized that again I was just a step behind her, and I again thought about my sister and how she has been able to take each step of life in stride without a complaint or a tear.
I just hope I can continue to follow in those same footsteps.
