Nothing short of amazing!

You always wonder what that day will be like when you walk your daughter down the aisle…but nothing prepares you for the reality…the nerves, the butterflies, the wondering if “I’m gonna cry” stuff that goes through your brain, the weather, which in this case turned out to be a record setting monsoon!

But the monsoon was no match for us! It was going to be my daughter’s day come hell or high water, and high water was lapping all around us! Guests began arriving at the Courtyard by Marriott Friday evening, and throughout much of the early afternoon on Saturday…even as the hurricane force winds threatened to blow the doors off the guests’ cars as they arrived.

Upstairs, the wind whipped the tree outside my hotel room, I was having a quiet moment. I said a prayer, and then started to slowly get dressed…all very deliberately. As I unfolded the shirt, I wondered whether or not I was putting the studs on the right way, carefully taking the shoes out of the box, and placing them on my feet…all the while thinking I was mere hours away from taking that long walk with my little girl!

The limousine surfed through the puddles on Route 21 on the way to Nanina’s in the Park. I couldn’t help but notice the gushing water cascading into the brook that ran alongside the park and wondering if the affair would be washed out! What a day to get married!

Once at Nanina’s, we were all able to take a deep breath and savor the moment until the bride arrived! The groom was told to stay in the study while I went out to take a peek at my daughter in her wedding gown! All breath was taken out of me…I was mesmerized at how beautiful she looked walking through the doorway and into the foyer. And just beneath us, scampering about was my little niece in her flower girl gown…looking very much like a little princess in a fairytale.

As the guests arrived in the pouring rain, the anticipation grew even more intense. Peter, the banquet manager, got all of us together and prepared us for our entrance while the band played the processional.

And then the grand entrance! Walking in, my biggest fear was tripping over the runner that I could feel pressing against my shoes…my daughter’s arm in mine as I whispered to her, “don’t cry, you’re a pro, just remember daddy loves you!” And then it happened! I could feel my eyes watering as I took the final steps toward the minister where her soon to be husband waited. As I kissed her, I thought back to that day almost 30 years ago when she came into the world, feeling shocked all over again as I’d felt then. Another life milestone has been passed!

And then they danced, to the Platters “Only You”. After which came our turn, and a treasured moment that will stay with me forever. For our dance, I took the sound clip from the show I did on the radio the day after she was born, announcing her birth, and playing the special dedication I’d made to both her and her mother, to the tune of “Betcha By Golly Wow” by Phyllis Hyman. As the sound of the radio clip washed over everyone present, I couldn’t help but think of that day in June of 1980 when my little girl, just a day old, was lying in a crib in the hospital down the hall from where her mother lay. And now I was about to take her hand in mine and dance to that very song!

To describe everything that came afterward would take pages more. Suffice it to say it was nothing short of magical. The band, Alive N Kickin', lived up to their billing! The special waltz that my wife and I had prepared weeks before the event went by in the blink of an eye! And everything that followed…the food, the dancing, the pure joy of having loving family and loyal friends together in one place together on a night that wasn’t fit for man nor beast to be out in…all sharing it with us....and the smile my daughter wore the entire night!

And above all, I’ll be grateful that she found the man of her dreams…even though he came up short on recognizing the movie line “…do you know how to make sauce?” Sounds like something his father-in-law would do!