Can I give the toast at my daughter's wedding without breaking up?
It’s wedding week in my family. My daughter is getting married this Sunday. Yes, on September 11. As she told me, “Dad, we have a date. It’s September, 11. You’ll never forget our anniversary.” Well, kid, your sister got married seven years ago and I still remember the date of her wedding. I’m pretty sure I could have remembered this one, too….maybe.
But, while this coming Sunday belongs to you, this story is mine.
Seven years ago, at my youngest daughter’s wedding, I gave a welcoming toast. I had it all planned out. But, plans do go awry.
I thought it would be nice to begin with a shout-out to those close family members who were no longer with us. Yeah, it was a nice thought, but as I was saying it, I became extremely emotional. The funny story I had planned to follow was tossed out. It was hard enough to tell everyone to raise their glasses and honor the newlyweds.
So, when I heard about this wedding, my first thought was REDEMPTION! Yeah, I know I should have immediately gone to being ecstatically happy for my child, am I am, but c’mon, here’s my opportunity to make up for the disaster of August 16, 2015.
With five days to go, I know what I’m going to say. Although I haven’t written it down on paper, I’ve worked it out in my head multiple times. I’m not going to tell you the entire speech here, but what I will say is there will not be any mention of relatives that have passed on. It’s going to be fast, upbeat and will have a funny ending. It sounds like a win/win, right?
But, the other day I was talking with my therapist. When I mentioned that I had this speech coming up, I could hardly get the words out without choking up. Damn, if I can’t talk about this without coming close to tears, how am I going to do this for real?
Once again, the best-laid plans are gone. That redemption thing is unlikely.
The good news is I do have almost a week to get it together. The bad news is I have almost a week to make it worse. Oh man, why couldn’t the kid couldn’t elope?