How We Spent Our Summer Vacation, Part 1

At the end of May, my baby sister--my only sibling--got married. She looked amazing. The bridal "glow" is such a real phenomenon. All in all, the day was a warm, joyful celebration of love and family, and I only wish the weekend lasted longer.

The professional photographs were recently posted online, so I thought I'd steal a few to share with readers of this blog.

Lovely. Now, I knew going into this wedding that I was going to be a bit emotional because I love my little sister and I know how excited she was to marry Sean, who had been in her life since they were freshmen in college. I didn't know the photographer was going to catch my sobfest, but I spent pretty much the entire ceremony like this:

There are several others like this. I was a big, snotty mess. Fortunately, Sean's big sister was the bridesmaid next to me and she was also experiencing a big-sis-breakdown, so we just shared tissues and held hands, reflecting on our wisdom to not stuff our little siblings in a box and mail them to Siberia as we had been tempted to do so many times in our youth.

My sister was good enough to include my son as her ring bearer, which meant we got to wrestle him into a little monkey suit and let him loose on her otherwise orderly day.

These are the few photos he didn't ruin by screaming, kicking apart bouquets, or trying to hurtle himself like a crowd surfer.

The ceremony, though punctuated by occasional sobs and nose-blowing, was beautiful.

Those two are going to make me some adorable nieces and nephews someday, if my kid hasn't convinced them otherwise.

One of the biggest benefits to attending the wedding of a sibling is seeing your own extended family and, in many cases, good friends. I'm so lucky that my sister has embraced my best friends as her surrogate big sisters and brothers. So, for me, it was like repeating some of the best moments of my own wedding, only without worrying about someone stepping on my big white dress. It was great.

April, 2007:

May, 2010:

We know how to have fun, no doubt.

Congratulations, Shirlea & Sean! It was a long time coming, and a true blessing to witness your special day.