Wearing a dress that epitomized a little black dress, I looked at the church. It was completely inaccessible.
Julia, my caregiver said, “Hold on, I’ll be back with strong men.”
I don’t know where you think I’m going to go.
When the strong men came in the form of the groom’s friends, I was grateful because the January cold was not being kind to me. I was freezing!
“OK, we go through the entrance that could not be farther from where we are,” Julia said running down the stairs.
“Of course.”
Once inside, I saw the team of strong men.
They’ll do!
Guys who were friends of the groom walked down fifteen steps. They were in suits and quite aware that the wedding would be another 70 minutes. They were happy to have a distraction. I’m Catholic so I’m used to long weddings.
“Hi, Hannah! We’re happy to help,” one of the guys said.
That guy took the top half of my body; his arms through my arm pits and the other guy had his hands under my knees. The other two guys spotted. 10 years ago, I would have been over the moon to have had these guys carry me. However, at 32 years old, this is substantially less fun, and inaccessibility is a true burden instead of a fun adventure. The family of the bride left a manual wheelchair for me at the top of the steps. I was placed in the unfamiliar wheelchair without my communication device. I was ecstatic about the wedding however if this was my first encounter with a Catholic church, I would not have gone back. Why would I go back to a place where I wasn’t able to be physically comfortable?
Back to the wedding. The bride was my friend, Natalie. She is Julie’s twin. Go back to the November post if you want background on Natalie.
Of course, she looked like she walked off a runway. With a strapless fitted dress complimented by a huge bow in the back, she was the epitome of a stunning bride. After all the tragedy this family has endured, it was glorious to see them all smiling.
At the reception, I mingled with many of the guests. The groom’s mom, for example, knew my physical therapist of fifteen years through their book club. There were a bunch of people who I had that type of connection with.
During the speeches, the three siblings who were unfortunately watching from Heaven were mentioned several times. I had the honor of being mentioned in light of Natalie’s social calendar. She’s friends with everyone and she and I get together on a regular basis. Her dad pulled off the ultimate
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| At the reception with dad and daughter! |
surprise by having two Broadway singers perform “For Good” from the musical Wicked. Not much can make my jaw drop but this did! I was truly gob stopped. This was a night that Elmhurst would remember for a long time.
“Did you have fun tonight?” Natalie asked.
“Yes!”
“Thank you for coming especially with all the stuff at the church.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“Let’s get together after I get back from my honeymoon when we can actually talk.”
“Sounds perfect!”
It did sound perfect. I like when Natalie comes over just to talk. It’s beautiful and our friendship gets stronger every time we spend time together. That is why I go to these big events. It’s a culmination of all the small moments because I wouldn’t get carried into a church for just anybody.
