Previously: 

In spite of its pagan dressings, I felt holiness in that room and so much love...
Then back to reality as the wife and husband-to-be faced each other again. Jeff’s uncle, aka the priest, turned to Nichole and said with a straight face, “So Snow White, you’re going to marry Dopey.” 


The room came to life. Everyone laughed except Jeff, still overwhelmed by the depth of his feelings. I wonder if he had even heard his uncle’s all-in good-fun reference.  

The bearded priest turned to him. “Jeff, next to me, you’re the weirdest person I know.” (Laughter again. Jeff  grinned.) “And also one of the most talented.”  His uncle finished the sentence and  turned to my daughter, “Nichole, to take on this incredible being is an act of pure love. I guarantee you’ll never be bored.”

I sat up straighter in my chair.  Maybe that was why she loved him. Ever since tenth grade, my daughter had been bored with the usual teenage delights. She loved only drama and dancing classes. Whether dancing, singing, or acting, she said that being on stage was the one time she felt alive.

Classmates liked her even if she came across as straight-laced. Boys never asked her out. For the most part she looked down on them as “dweebs” anyway. Unlike her peers, she didn’t care about popularity, drinking or smoking.  Dancing and private acting lessons sublimated hormonal challenges. No one doubted her talent on stage.  Yet only in rare moments did she connect with her audience.  She stayed aloof from others out of disdain for their silly chatter and malicious gossip.  With the exception of one or two oddball friends, she remained a private person and liked it that way. 

With Jeff around, Nichole could sit back and let him do the talking. He thrived on being the center of attention.  She marveled at his talent and believed he’d be big on the screen. Upon his success, she would be at his side for red carpet premieres and Oscar award nights. Her dreams could live with that.  Perhaps he’d find roles for her too.  Only one problem: he was big on gangster films, horror too. Nichole loved light-hearted romances and musicals, a genre he labeled 'corny'. 

“Many years ago,”  Nichole read her prepared vows, “my favorite TV show was “Love Boat.”  When the audience giggled, so did she,  a little embarrassed by this 'confession' of her once naive nature.  Regaining her composure, she continued, “Where else could strangers meet, fall in love, survive a crisis, marry and live happily ever after?  All this in less than fifty minutes. The real world showed me it’s not that simple. Here I am, twenty years later, and instead of a short cruise on The Love Boat, I’ve booked a life-long journey on The Poseidon.”

The guests roared and clapped. Hubby and I did too. Jeff, like the famed cruise liner, was an accident waiting to happen. 

Listening closely to her vows, I found another reason for the attraction, and learned something new about my daughter. She slipped the information in between ongoing laughs.

“Jeff, you know me better than anyone else, and every day I learn something new about you and the 625 characters that live in your head.”  Jeff cracked up. So did the guests.  Nichole waited before going on.  “We are two misfits who have found each other. Now, I’m happy to play Olive Oyl to your Popeye, Miles to your Otis, Miss Piggy to your Kermit, Morticia to your Gomez.”

My daughter had the audience’s rapt attention with her dry humor and wit, easy to miss when Jeff dominated the scene.  “Now, to get serious.” Her dark blue eyes twinkled as she looked straight ahead at the groom. “I vow to nag you at least once a day, but I’ll let you be right,” she paused, then added, “once.”

Giggles rippled through the room.  Nichole ended her speech. " Jeff. my mask is off to you." 

The guests applauded.  The groom wiped away a new tear and then switched the standing mike to himself.  “Nichole Francis,” he said in an even voice, “I never thought I’d married anybody. Look what you’ve done to me.”