My best friend is getting married in less than two weeks, and I couldn’t be happier for her. She’s waited patiently for this moment. A moment that feels long overdue with fate’s fingerprints all over it.
Over the course of 13 years, we’ve been inseparable. We’ve been through it all together and to see her finally meet her prince and start her life with him seems surreal. There were many moments and circumstances where she thought it just wasn’t in the cards for her. But I always knew different.
I’ve always known how special she is. She’s beautiful, funny, kind, generous, independent, forgiving, witty, responsible, and the list goes on. I know what you’re thinking, it’s the same thing she always thought, that I’m saying all of this because she’s my best friend. I promise that’s not why. Ask anyone around her, she’s truly a catch and one of a kind.
Once she figured out what she deserved and decided not to settle for less than the best, she met him. Her soul mate.
She’s found the one. She feels “home.” She feels complete. She feels whole. And in a way, I feel complete because her happiness is my happiness. Her life with him is just beginning.
As I’ve walked through the engagement with her, I’ve relived so much of my own journey with my husband. I remember what it was like to have that sole intense love between him and I. That yearn to be with him or at least have him near. That feeling of bliss and endless possibility. I remember how incredible that felt. I use to feel bad for others who didn’t have that happiness, because I was literally the happiest woman alive.
That is my best friend. She’s the happiest woman alive.
I remember the excitement of anticipation in starting a family. Would we have a boy or a girl first? What would they look like? What will we name them?
It was a time in my life where nothing or no one could take away my joy. Not as long as I had my man by my side.
And so here we are, best friends. Standing at the edge of her new beginning. I’ll watch as she leaps in head first, submerging herself in her soon-to-be husband’s love. He’ll take care of her and comfort her, and give her the world. I know he will.
I’ll be there for the heart racing phone calls about whether this month will be the month she conceives. I’ll be there for the phone call where she tells me she’s pregnant. I’ll be there to give her tips and tricks on how to make the first few months of pregnancy less barfy. I’ll be there to love on her bump, to talk about what her sweet bundle will look like and be like. I’ll help her prepare for labor. I’ll be there to hold my sweet friend’s newborn baby in my arms.
I’ll be watching from the sidelines as my best friend begins a beautiful journey with her new husband.
I’ll be there to support her through the sleepless nights of new motherhood. I’ll be there to let her know it’s normal for a baby not to latch properly right away if she chooses to breastfeed. I’ll be there to recommend formulas if she chooses not to. I’ll be there to support her through the terrible twos and even more terrible threes. I’ll be there to empathize with how hard motherhood is, and tell her it gets easier. I’ll be there to share all of my parenting wisdom when she asks for it.
As I look at all that is to come for her, I miss this moment she’s experiencing. I miss it so much. It’s a small window of magic that we never get back. Where we’re filled with hope, joy, and anticipation for the future. It’s the rev up to the most exciting part of life. New life. And while it’s the hardest time, it’s also the best.
It’s where we realize we never stop learning. It’s where we learn the most about ourselves. It’s where we get to relive our childhood and see the world through our own children’s eyes. It’s where we are tested time and time again, only to shock ourselves because we survived. It’s where we understand our mortality more than ever. It’s where we accept that we aren’t perfect beings. It’s where we wonder how we ever got so lucky.
It’s pivotal. She’s getting ready to experience it all, and my heart is exploding with excitement for her.
And although I won’t be there day to day the way I once was, I’ll be there. In every way I can, I’ll be there.
So, to my best friend who is just starting her life, I’ll forever be in your corner, I’ll forever be your biggest cheerleader and I’ll always be your shoulder to cry on. I’ll be right here.
So get ready, because the best truly is yet to come.
Appetite for Honesty 