My older sister got married over the summer, and as tradition states, the Maid of Honor must give a speech at the reception. This honor fell on me. Naturally, being a writer, I had written the whole thing in my head 6 months prior to her big day. I will admit, there wasn't a dry eye in the hall.
When you grow up in a house with five women and you have a father like Bob S******, it’s no surprise that you have extremely unrealistic expectations about men. You expect the fairy tale—the complete perfection of romance and selflessness of your partner that we all avidly watched as little girls. You believe “one day my prince will come”, that he will not only be gorgeous and sweep you off your feet with only one sentence uttered, but that he can also slay any dragon with a simple swing of his sword, and for the more time appropriate, wake up at 4am during a blizzard to dig his daughter’s and wife’s 5 cars out of 2 feet of snow so they will get to work or school safely the next day—thanks for that Daddy. He is perfect in every way, and it’s only a matter of finding him. Naturally, this is the home that my big sister grew up in.
Meg has had a lot of “princes” in her day—she started slow with a few school girl crushes. Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the block is the first obsession I remember. She had the sheets, a doll, a life-sized wooden cut out that hung by her bed. She watched their cartoon every Saturday morning and their cassette was on a constant rewind. Little girls grow up eventually and we started hearing more about some of the boys she went to grade school with—who I guarantee my dad still remembers their names. Then she hit her teens and she swore she finally found her prince and it was only a matter of time before he drove to Philadelphia and met her. Bridget and Lauren Michalik can probably guess who I’m talking about. She taped every appearance of his on TV. Bought every magazine he graced the cover of. Plastered her bedroom walls with his picture. Tried to get tickets for every concert in the area. She even started signing her name, “Mrs. Megan Timberlake”. I think we were all a little worried about her for a few years there because she swore to the high heavens he would be hers. And no one could convince her of anything different
As you can see this is not that wedding. And luckily for her and us, she met Bob.
I wished and hoped for a long time that my big sister would find happiness and love in the real world. It’s really been my biggest hope since I was a little girl. And it finally happened.
I was away at college when I got a frantic call from Megan. It was early in the morning and I’m pretty sure she woke me up. I wanted to be angry but the first thing she said to me was “I met someone”. She started telling me about this guy named Bob Sinclair, who she had known for awhile and she described as “tall with red hair and looked like a leprechaun.” Naturally, my first thought was looking like a leprechaun is not a good thing. But then she started telling me the reason why she called. The night before she was getting ready for bed after hanging out with her friends and Bob, when her phone got a text. It was after 2 am so she was a bit confused when she read the text “is yours’ the house with the big red door.” A little freaked out she responded yes. An answer came and it said “come to the door.”
“So I went downstairs and opened the door,” she told me, "and it was Bob. He kissed me right there. It was like a fairy tale”. The minute she said that little phrase, I knew this was the real deal.
And I guess the rest is history!
I am nothing but happy and overjoyed for my big sister and welcoming Bob into our family. When I was 9 years old, I asked Santa for a baby brother—so I guess I’m just getting an early Christmas present, 16 years late. I know you will make her happy, Bob. I can tell just by the way you look at her, and laugh at her. Meg, I love you with all my heart. I am honored to have been a part of today and of the beginning of your life together. Always remember what Mommy has told us--that no matter what happens in life, no matter where we go, everything started in our house. We will be as close as we are today, 50 years from now simply because we are sisters. I wish you both a lifetime of joy and to have a marriage like the fairy tales. I wish you as many happy endings as you can stomach and a marriage like our parents.
To Megan and Bob.
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