Wedding Dress Shopping - weird

On the cusp (don't you love when you can show off a college education) of wedding dress shopping with my little sister, I am feeling a little weird.

Weird because she was supposed to stay little. She was the surprise ending of my siblings, and what a blessing. I remember when Mom and Dad told us that they were having another baby, after having 4 you just assume your parents are done. It was funny, because Dad said that there was a special surprise coming to our family after Christmas and that it came in a sack. GROSS!! Just tell us that Mom is having a baby, don't go into detail Dad. I was 9 when that announcement was made and 10 when Joy Kathleen arrived. Once she was born I remember talking to mom about what we would do without her and how we felt like our family was complete before she came, but it wasn't. For those of you that don't believe I can remember these conversations, I can. Mom and I talked in the big grey van after going to Pizza Hut in Mt. Pleasant, which was rare for us. We had taken back all the pop cans that day and were able to go out to dinner on the proceeds, now that is a lot of pop cans. It was Saturday night and the boys were bouncing around in the back, Sarah was sleeping, and Dad had gone into the gas station to pay, I was sitting next to Joy and talking to Mom in the front seat. Crazy the things you remember.

So tomorrow, I get to go with this little girl, who is now all grown up and mushy in love with a great guy, Grant. (oooh, fancy words and alliteration, I must be tired to pull all this off) WEIRD!! What fun it will be to go wedding dress shopping. Mom, Sarah, and I will be a great audience, and Joy will beam with delight. The laughter will make people look and the conversations should be recorded. We will tell stories, talk about random weird things that only we get, because of the context that only we know. You know what I mean, sister stuff.

We will miss Dad, not that he would have come, but because we always miss Dad.

So, who will cry first? Who will pick out the ugliest dress? Who will get honked off by the rude clerk and talk not to them, but loudly enough for them to hear? I may never tell, unless it is just the funniest story that must be told. I can tell you this that this will be a blessed day, and one that will have at least one lingering trip to Starbucks, cause that's how we roll. (There's that college education again.)

I love Joy and am honored to be a part of the process in welcoming Grant into our family and celebrating a marriage that will give our final Kelly girl a "B" last name. How weird is that? Thanks for letting me come Joy. With all the opinions, ideas, bossiness, and the rest of the things you hate to love about me.

See you at noon!!