All the things I would have said

This past weekend was edotlouise's wedding day.  What a year it has been.  It seems like just yesterday it was July 4 2009.  We talked that day.  Kurt told Emily they were going to Oxford to see the fireworks that night.  She didn't want to go.  Ha.  She was tired from camp, felt grungy from just getting in, and just wanted to chill.  Thank goodness he convinced her to go.  That night beneath the fireworks, he proposed.  So flash-forward to June 11 2010.  The night before THE wedding.  Speech time at the rehearsal dinner.  I didn't say anything.  I just wasn't prepared but I was harassed after wards by many for not speaking up.

So here is what I would have said.

Hi, I'm Beth.  I'm sure I look very unfamiliar to most of you being that I am not from Tupelo.  I am an Ole Miss friend and unlike most of the friends here I have not known Emily for a million years.  I wasn't there when her heart was broken in the 7th grade, I wasn't there for every ballet performance (in fact, I've never seen her dance before...well besides skit and in the privacy of our own home), or even to pass notes on school days.  I missed all of that but in my time with Emily I got to see a different girl from everyone else.

I know we met freshman year when we both pledged the same sorority but I just can't pinpoint a particular day.  Even sophomore year we weren't that "tight" because she lived on the other wing of the dorm.  But junior year.  Yeah junior year.  We were tight.  We were both in the white house.  I spent many hours in room 13 chatting.  Getting advice only Emily could give.  Admiring her cute artwork on the walls.  Getting a back rub on a bad day.  Big or small it didn't matter.

In November we were in an election against each other for president of our sorority.  It was a tough battle and in the end she was our leader.  To be honest, I was devastated.  After I got it together I went into her room and we just talked.  THAT was the night we became best friends.  I had the pleasure of working with her as vice president that year.  We were one brain.  Working hand in hand.  It was a great balance.

By the end of our reign we were ready to be OUT.  She asked me if I wanted to live with her and Hart for the next semester.  I jumped at the opportunity because this was her last time to live as a single girl would.  Little did I know what that time would give us.  In that time I got to see Emily for what she is.  She is always described with the sweet voice and gentle spirit.  And yes, these things are true but I found so much more in one semester in close quarters.  I watched her write and defend a 100 some odd page thesis.  She spent months on it and sheer determination was the only thing that got her through.  Watching her defend the thesis almost made me cry.  The way she commanded the room was breath-taking.  I also know: she is strong, she encourages in a way unlike any other, she will force you to eat anything she cooks, she can drink coffee at any hour of the day-even on days when it's too hot to drink coffee, she will cry with you just when you feel like crying, she will pray for you, she will pray with you, she will pay attention to you when no one else is listening,  she will dance for you just to make you laugh, she will carry your burdens, she will guide you, she will teach you how to be the kind of friend you want to be, oh and the list goes on and on. 

Emily will be the perfect bride.  I know she will be breath-taking in her dress (she was).  I'm sure her dad will shed a tear coming down the aisle (not sure if that happened on the aisle but pretty sure it did that day).  But more than that she will be the perfect mate for Kurt.  They balance each other so well.  Kurt with the care-free spirit, Emily with the level-headedness (I just made up a word).  Emily I-am-going-to-do-this-in-seven-steps-when-it-can-be-done-in-four and Kurt let's-do-it-now-and-fast. And with mothering in her nature...he will always be very well taken care of.  

I hope for nothing but happiness in all that you do.  I hope you are quick to forgive.  I hope you fall into each others arms after a long day.  Keep faith, pray, but most of all....love. 

Congratulations



So that's what I would have said.