Eleanor
“Can I have another mimosa?” I asked Shay after she placed my veil. My whole body was going through a wave of nerves as we inched closer and closer to me walking down the aisle toward my happily ever after.
My stomach was in knots as I thought about saying “I do” to Greyson.
Not because I was afraid of those two words, but because I’d been praying for them to come to fruition for such a long time.
Now there I was, facing my happily ever after, completely ready to give him my all.
To give him all of me. Even though it was easily the best day of my life, those nervous butterflies still existed.
Dad told me that he felt the same way before he said “I do” to Mom all those years before. He said those butterflies were a sign of excitement, of love, of finding your other half.
Words couldn’t have expressed how great it’d been reconnecting with my father.
For a while, I wasn’t certain that we’d be able to rebuild our relationship, but somehow we found our way back to one another.
It wasn’t exactly the same as it had once been, but I was OK with that.
Somehow, after all the tragedy we’d gone through, the new us felt even more authentic.
After loss, we’d learned to appreciate each other more than ever before.
My father was healthy again, and I had a feeling that would’ve never happened without my reconnection with Greyson.
Greyson didn’t only heal me, but he helped heal my father too.
And not only that, Dad was growing so close with Karla and Lorelai.
He’d found joy in becoming a grandfather to those two girls, and I swore they loved him even more than they loved me.
Probably because he was always bringing sweets around with him to give their way.
It was so great seeing him find light in a world that felt so dark for so long.
Seeing him smile, laugh, and feel was one of the greatest gifts to me.
There was something so powerful in watching someone you loved come back to life. The light in his eyes was there again, and I teared up a little every time I witnessed it.
“No more mimosas when you’re in your wedding dress,” Shay responded, patting me on the shoulder. “Sorry, rules are rules.”
“I won’t spill,” I told her.
“Yes,” she chuckled, “you will.” She then smoothed out the bottom of my dress as I stood in front of the mirror. I wore a sleek, ivory silk gown that danced across the ground. It was tailored to perfection, as if I was born to wear that dress for the rest of my life.
“You look stunning, Ellie,” Shay said, her voice cracking slightly as she grew a little choked up.
“Oh boy, don’t get me emotional over here,” I laughed, feeling the sting of my own eyes. “I can’t ruin my makeup.”
“You’re right, you’re right. Geez . . .” Shay fanned her eyes and blinked away her emotions that were sitting at the surface level. “I’m just . . . Ellie. You deserve to be loved the way that Grey loves you.”
Dang it, Shay. Stop it.
She took my hands in hers and smiled at me.
Not only was Shay my cousin, but she was my very best friend.
She’d witnessed every version of me from birth.
The good and the sad. The bad and the heavy.
She’s seen so many versions of me, and she called every single one beautiful.
To have that kind of friend was one of the greatest gifts to me.
“This is it, Ellie,” Shay said, giving my hands a squeeze. “The happy ending.”
“The happy ending,” I echoed. When those words left my mouth, a wave of peace raced over me. It turned out I didn’t need another mimosa. I just needed Greyson, Karla, and Lorelai to make it through the day. Everything was going to be perfect, because it was already perfect.
There was a knock on the door, and when it opened, Dad was standing there in his suit and tie. He smiled my way and said “Wow” as he looked at me.
I felt my face heat up as everything began to become more real with every passing second.
“Sweetheart, you look breathtaking,” he stated as he walked toward me. He took my hands into his and squeezed them. His eyes were misty, which told me exactly one thing: I was not going to make it through the day without crying. Makeup be damned.
“Thanks, Dad.”
Shay left the room to give us a moment together, and for a few seconds, no words were said, just smiles. It was amazing how much one smile could say without a single word.
“I feel her today, you know,” Dad whispered, speaking about Mom as he wiped away his tears. “Her presence is all over this place.”
I smiled. “I had a feeling she wouldn’t miss out on today.”
“I see her in you, too, Ellie. She’s in your eyes and smile. That’s a blessing.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek. Then he took a step back and held a hand out toward me. “So are you ready for your next adventure?”
We held our ceremony at Laurie Lake, beside the hidden pond that Mom and I used to always go to.
It only felt right to go to the one place that I knew her heartbeats always lived.
I wanted to feel her in the wind as I promised forever to the man I loved.
I wanted to feel her kisses against my skin as the wind blew past me.
All of our closest friends and family sat in the chairs that we’d arranged for the ceremony. There were only about forty people, but we wanted it that way. Small, intimate, real. The ones who meant the most to us were there to watch the best day of our lives.
As my three bridesmaids walked down the aisle, I could hardly hold in my excitement for this next chapter of my life.
I was overwhelmed with the adventurous journey of love that Greyson and I’d gone on over the span of us first meeting, but I couldn’t express how happy I’d been that this was where we landed.
Here. Together. Two people becoming one.
He was my happily ever after.
“Ready, sport?” Dad said as I laced my arm around his.
“Beyond ready,” I replied with a smile.
When I stepped out, I looked up to see him.
My leading hero standing at the end of the aisle, with the sweetest smile I’d ever witnessed.
Greyson looked remarkable in his forest-green suit that almost looked as if it was tailored by God himself.
His smile was shy, timid. His eyes glistened with nothing but love.
I wondered if his heart was pounding as wildly as mine as I took each step in his direction.
I delivered my vows first. I stumbled over the words, and we giggled together as shyness crept up my body. Whenever it became a little too much, Greyson would reach out and squeeze my hand, bringing me back to center, bringing me back to us.
I gently sighed as I said the last lines of my vows. “Thank you for allowing me into a world where I am able to not only love you but love your girls too. Loving you all comes easy to me, and I promise to do it until the end of time.”
I turned to face Karla and Lorelai, who were standing behind me, and nodded once as I said, “Until the end of time.”
They both wiped away the tears in their eyes, and then I turned back to Greyson, who was now ready to deliver his own vows.
He smiled at me in a way that felt like a promise of forever.
He then cleared his throat, choking back a sob as his eyes teared up.
“My Eleanor, there is an overarching theme in my mind when I think about the love we have created together, both in our youth and in our adulthood, and that word is peace. As I stand here with you today, I have a full heart. A heart that was shaped by love, loss, joy, and healing. It’s no secret that I have loved before; I have the two most amazing daughters as a living testimony of said love.
But you taught me that there isn’t a limit to how much love can come into a person’s life.
Loving you doesn’t replace the past. It honors it.
It shows me that the heart can expand, not divide.
That new chapters don’t erase the past ones; they only add to a remarkable story.
Eleanor, thank you for helping me craft the most beautiful chapters.
Thank you for not only reading my pages but exploring my daughters’ too.
Thank you for your patience and love when you had every right to have walked away.
“So today I give my vows to you. I vow to fall in love with you in every version that presents itself to me. I vow to love you quietly and softly, loudly and boldly. I vow that my heart will always make room for more. More of you. More of us. More of our dreams coming true together. I vow to hold space for you whenever it’s needed and to protect you through every storm that arises.
On this day, I promise to love you from now until forever.
This is my promise, and one I shall never break. Always, my Ellie.”
My eyes couldn’t stop the tears from falling even if I wanted them to.
I couldn’t have imagined any vows more perfect. Because he was right—there was always more room for love, and I knew each day we’d be able to find a little bit more.
After our vows and our final “I do,” we danced the night away.
There wasn’t a dull moment to the evening.
Our loved ones laughed and celebrated our love up until the wee hours of the morning.
When everyone cleared out of the wooded area for the night, Greyson, his girls, and I sat on the same log that I used to always sit on with my mother.
Lorelai was sleeping in Greyson’s arms as Karla leaned her head against my shoulder, her eyes fading in and out from exhaustion.
Greyson looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back.
I was grateful for how many more smiles would be exchanged between us in our future.
Speaking of the future . . . I was looking forward to ours together, no doubt about it, but oh, how I was loving being in our present moment.
In a soul-healing chapter filled with nothing but love and joy and well-earned peace.
My favorite part about us four sitting there on that log that held so many of my favorite memories? The dozens of beautiful dragonflies that danced around us.