Roads not traveled #3...

Once upon a time…

The day we were married was one of those rare, perfect autumn afternoons, when the world has the clarity of winter, but the lingering warmth of summer on the breeze as it carries through the vibrant leaves. I’m sitting in the little wooded glade where the small handful of our closest have gathered. Estelle is tending to the flowers in the hair of her sisters who, to their credit, are being wonderfully cooperative. They’re all laughing. Everyone seems to be. I search through the gathering, trying to catch a glimpse of you, and can’t find you. I assume you’re being hidden away until everything begins, though where I can’t imagine. 

When it’s time, the gentle music you’ve chosen starts to play and I see you step out of the trees, a vision in the golden autumnal light, and my breath catches in my chest. You’re wearing a long white gown, nothing fancy, but elegant, draping in waves to your ankles, making it seem as though you’re floating through the rainbow of leaves. You have flowers woven into your hair, and a single strand hangs loose just beside your left temple. I smile, recognizing it not as an error, but as a small reminder of who we are. As you approach, I stand and brush the hair back behind your ear, as I have a thousand times before, and you turn, very subtly, to touch your cheek to my palm, before I take your hand and we turn to the officiant. 

She says her part, though I couldn’t tell you now what it was. I was too lost in you, in the light in your eyes. You were crying gently, of course, and I’m sure I was too. The beauty of it all was overwhelming. The officiant ties the first ribbon across our hands, for love, then I say my vows, and she ties the second, for faith, and you say yours, in Swedish, of course, because you told me they’re too important to limit your words, after which we are bound by the last, for fidelity. With our other hands, we slip rings onto one another, then I lean in to kiss you, just as you rise up on your toes to meet me, and there is nothing in the world by you and I, man och fru, now and always.