First Born

Next month there is to be a wedding, the daughter of one of my dearest friends, and I will attend with a mixture of awe, confusion, pride and wonder. I was in the hospital waiting room the night she was born and it hardly seems possible that she can be this close to being a bride

We sat, four of us, smoking, stitching, talking in snatches and waiting. It was a huge event, this first born child, and we were anxious and impatient. A child was about to come into the world, lives were about to be changed forever though of that, we had only the dimmest sense. The baby showers were over, the endless conversations over names were finished, the social circle was about to be enlarged and dear friends were about to become parents - the world as we knew it, was in evolution. There was no way to look down the road and see the various changes ahead, even if we could have, we wouldn't have - we had no real concept of the enormity of what was happening or the plan that was in place and would unfold.

She was a beautiful infant and grew first into a precious toddler, then an outgoing little girl, then a bright and popular teenager, then a poised, polite, classically pretty young woman with a ready smile and a generous heart.
She takes after her mother - girly with a love of fashion and shopping, very traditional and aware of southern etiquette, and a taste for the good things in life. She is social and comfortable to be around and has grown into her upbringing with common sense, a touch of satire, a belief in goodness, and a love of family - all the things that will one day make her a good mother. I've watched her struggle with loss beyond words, with pain and the innate unfairness of life, with sisterly quarrels and boyfriends and everyday life, with going off to college and learning to drive. She's made all the transitions and made them smoothly and has become an adult in the blink of an eye and I still can't comprehend how she could've grown so quickly.

I have wishes for her - joy, to make her marriage all that she hopes for, trials to keep her strong, hardships to insure that she avoids complacency, children so that she can pass on the love she has learned, no struggle too hard to overcome, tears when needed and laughter every day to keep her balance. These are the things I will think of as her godfather walks her down the aisle to the man she is marrying, but I will always miss the little girl she used to be. It's nice that the sparkle and mischief in her eyes in her eyes is still there to remind me.