Katelyn & Dan

I had the pleasure of being Matron of Honor in my little cousin's wedding a couple weeks ago. Micah was ring bearer along with his cousin Kate (almost 3years) and they definitely stole the show...that is until the stunning bride entered the room. I thought I would share my speech here, which will sound better when you read it than when I did (you won't have to pause for tears!).

I never had a little sister and on my mom’s side of the family all of my cousins are older than me, so having Katelyn as a little cousin was and is so special to me. Although we had the NorCal SoCal divide while growing up, our grandparents  gifted us with week long summer vacations each year with all ten of us. It was each of these summers that I truly got to know the amazing young woman that Katelyn has become. In our relationship, I’m not sure which one of us gained more from the other. I mean, I know that Katelyn gained a lot of super awesome hand me down clothes and Halloween costumes with a super special slit to reach the bellybutton and she may have learned about amazing musicians like NSYNC, but I too learned a thing or two from her. I learned that older sisters actually could be really nice to their little brothers and I learned about karate levels and color guard.

Katelyn and I were our Papa and Gramma’s special girls. And with Reid and Benjamin, we were the four special grandkids who would sing all the songs our Papa taught us , play Solitaire and Go Fish with our Gramma,  and go on adventures with our four parents and let them act like kids again. When our Papa passed away just months before Katelyn’s Bat Mitzvah, the four of us kids resolved to take all of our love and energy we had for our Papa and pour it all into our Gramma. Katelyn has been the one leading this charge.  It’s no surprise to me that Dan fell for Katelyn because she knows how to love fiercely, be loyal, stay true to her Jewish roots, and of course talk science and all things Comicon.

It’s kind of crazy, but I can’t even remember the first time that I met Dan because he was already such a part of the family and we had heard so many great things about him that we knew we already loved him! We were even more sold on Dan, the first time my husband Phil, my son Micah, then 9 months old, and I got to spend a full day at the zoo where 1) we got to know Dan 2)We saw how perfect Dan and Katelyn were for each other by the way they held hands, traded sentences, laughed at each others jokes, and spoke highly of the other’s activities, families, and upbringing and 3) we also got to see how good Dan is with babies *cough cough *

And now, Katelyn & Dan, as you embark on this crazy thing called marriage, remember to compromise. Compromise doesn't always mean meeting in the middle. Sometimes it means taking turns.

Thank you for including Micah and I in your special day. We love you!
Cheers to Katelyn & Dan!