Megan goes to Clinton, NY

I've been struggling with what the tone of the post for today should be. We arrived home 24 hours ago from Clinton, NY (~30 miles east of Syracuse) having celebrated the wedding of Jillian's brother. The struggle is in wanting to relate my feelings about John & Christine in a forum theoretically about Megan, whom I saw for ~4 hours from Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning thanks to all the relative help, who were too many to mention individually. (I know I'm prone to hyperbole, but in all honesty that is pretty accurate. And before the reception on Saturday night it was closer to one hour.)

However I imagine most of her thought bubbles went something like this:

1) Who are you?

2) Are you going to feed me?  --> If yes, I will talk/coo. If no, I will cry.

3) Are you going to hold me? --> If yes, I will smile. If no, please pass me along to next new person.

4) Repeat step one.

I'm sure she had other thoughts, but I'm pretty sure those were her main concerns.

(Megan having her fortune told ... She wished to 'Be Big' ... uh oh.)

As for the wedding, Megan behaved beautifully. Cousin Jeff was great in holding her through the service while I stood up with John and Jillian read. She didn't make a peep during the entire service (which was my biggest worry).

The wedding itself was fabulous. I've known John since 1997 as he reminded me this week which seems like an eternity. I've seen him go from a slightly introverted boy with a bowl-shaped haircut into an extremely confident man with hair I can only envy. His best man did a great job with his toast and I think perhaps the best descriptor he used was selfless. I've been extremely impressed/amazed at how John is always willing to place others before himself. But it's not in a way that shows weakness or a lack of backbone. It seems to stem from a strong sense of self and not having any emotional hang-up on whether he wins a video game, chooses a restaurant, a movie, or other mundane tasks. Your happiness has always seemed more important to him. It's a trait I've admired up close for near 10 years now and I'm hopeful that Jillian and I can instill that quiet confidence yet respect for others that John has displayed since I've known him, into Megan.

Now add Christine to him and (cliche alert) I can't think of two people who feel so right for each other. She too is someone confident in her ideals but has a great mix of wit, brashness, and compassion that seems too good to be true. That I got to be a part of such a wonderful celebration was a blessing. 

(Megan and Jillian at Niagara Falls)