A new sister-in-law
I often times talk about my friends on this site – when they graduate, when they marry, when something special happens in their lives. It’s natural – at that moment, all of my thoughts are directed toward those people. My friends are my family, and it is only natural that I feel happy for them.
This weekend, the one person who has been the most like family, my friend Jim, the kid I spent an inordinate amount of time hanging out with, got married. This is the same kid who I hung out with every day, watching television, growing up and living life, whose basement I lounged in and whose mother spoiled me (all of us, really) as if she was quietly mothering 20 high school and college aged men and women. In away, she was. And in a way, this one person has been more like a brother than anyone I’ve ever known.
With our group of friends, a marriage brings to mind a twist on an old family cliché: we’re not losing a friend; we’re gaining a friend. Over the past few months, Mel has become a great friend. And now she’s married. To Jim. A de facto sister-in-law to a lot of us.
With all of this explanation, I’ve lost the scope of what I wanted to say. Which is that love is beautiful, and that finding a perfect match is a rare, yet fully attainable, experience. We shouldn’t be amazed by it, but it’s all the same an amazing act. We search and we search and finally find someone, and it clicks immediately and we can’t imagine being without him or her for even a second. All of our thoughts and our secrets transfer over to that person, and we vow to live the rest of our lives together without barriers and without anything but the highest level of caring and understanding.
Yeah, to some people marriage is just as cliché as a long used turn of phrase. But it’s a complete act of emotion in which you give yourself fully, without hesitation and without trepidation, and join together as a couple in order to make better individuals. So whenever it happens, of course I’m happy.
Congratulations to Jim. You’ve married an advertising account manager, which is good because now I have someone to talk shop with. And, because Mel likes board games and Clue the Movie, she’s all right with us.
Congratulations to Mel. You’ve married into a hell of a great family of friends. Welcome into the fold. We’re not as obnoxious as we seem.
Congratulations to both of you. You’ve both found your match. And there’s really nothing more beautiful than that.