Up, Up, and Away

While in the midst of planning events to celebrate weddings and babies (for different people, of course), I find myself reflecting back on weddings of the past and what kind of impact I personally had on said events.

One wedding, in particular, seems to stand out for a few reasons. One, it was the wedding of my best friend to her now-husband of over 10 years. Two, because I thought it would be a good idea to do my own hair for the celebration, which is still being talked about to this day. And the talk isn't good. And three, this is the doozie, is the gift that my then-boyfriend bought for me when he and another wedding guest left the reception to go to the liquor store. That should really be numbers three, four, and five. And you can read that again, but yes, it says what you thought it said.

Now, I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is the mental picture of the type of guy who would do such a thing. Maybe a mullet, maybe a short sleeved dress shirt, the hint of illegal substance billowing from said shirt. But, no! This guy had a $500 suit on, drove a BMW, and was more clean-cut than the infamous United States Naval Aviator LT, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.

So, as I'm fulfilling my bridesmaid duties to the best of my ability, unaware of the hushed whispers about the disaster on top of my head, all attention moves away from my frizzy, out of control locks and focuses solely on the Valentine's Day balloon that just entered the venue. The over-sized, red and silver, heart-shaped, floating debacle, ALL. FOR. ME. Now before you start to speculate, let me make something clear. The colors of the wedding had NOTHING to do with the impending holiday. I was wearing a navy blue dress and I'm pretty sure he did not buy the balloon to take attention away from my bad hair but I do have to give him props for that. And just to add fuel to the fire, his partner in crime purchased a standard sized balloon, as if to make those who didn't notice the abnormal size of the one purchased for me even more obvious.

The best part of the story is that he left me at the wedding that night and rode home with the accessory to his unforgiveable crime. So clearly, his helium filled sentiment was not sincere. And to this day, I still have no idea what the motivation was behind such and act. I can only hope that it was never repeated.

More importantly, I also learned more of the true friendship that lied between myself and both my best friend and her husband. Both were in my wedding years later and are responsible for my marriage to the non-balloon buying love of my life. Don't forget that my BFF's husband had every right to seek revenge on my big day with any sort of inflatable,it would have been Easter themed due to the season, but he didn't. He threatened of course, with a smirk on his face to leave me wondering if he would follow through. But he didn't.

There are so many reasons that I love my friends but those who have experienced the wrath of my own bad decisions and chose not to pay me back are the ones that hold that much more of my heart!!!!