in celebration of matt and gina's one year wedding anniversary, i thought i would share the maid-of-honor speech that i gave at their wedding.
it's the best way i could put into words how i feel about the both of them
and sometimes the word "congratulations" just isn't enough.
enjoy!
...
as i stand here today - although it's the first - i feel as though i've done this so many times before. that's probably because throughout our friendship, gina and i have had a lot of weddings. when we were four and five, she loved her cheeseburger so much that i made her marry it at the dinner table. a few years later we took turns marrying the members of "boys 2 men". and like most little girls, we had our share of barbie weddings. it was always a double wedding. since gina got first dibs - her doll was always conveniently set to marry the mc hammer doll, and mine was left to marry michael jackson. this actually wouldn't have been so bad...except for the fact that gina lost michael's pants. so there our grooms stood at the end of the isle - mc hammer in his sparkly purple suit - and michael standing next to him, smiling in a red leather jacket - minus his pants.
some would say i've always been a little territorial when it comes to gina. from new friends growing up to boys that came and went - i've always wanted to make sure i was number one in her life. when i first heard about matt, i was at gina's apartment one night and she wanted to show me his pictures on facebook. i watched as she clicked through his profile pictures - with each picture her smile grew bigger.
me: so you and matt are getting serious?
gina: yeah. i really like him.
me: you really like me.
gina: he's really funny.
me: i'm really funny.
gina: he's really cute.
me: i'm really cute.
gina: we've been serious for a few weeks now.
me: we've been serious for 26 years!
gina: i think he's the one.
when i saw the picture of matt in a white tee shirt and a baseball cap - that's when i knew not only had gina found the man of her dreams (her very own k-fed) but i had found my competition.
gina - in the last 27 years we've had our ups, we've had our downs, and there was even the time that we didn't speak for an entire month. then there are those days when i call you just to ask:
"do you think we'll be in each other's lives forever?"
even though i already know the answer is yes - even though i know i can't imagine my life without you in it. you have always been more than just my best friend. you are someone i look up to, you're someone i've always wanted to be more like - you're my sister.
and matt - i don't need to tell you how lucky you are to have found her - because when i see the way you look at her - it's obvious that you already know that. even though i tease you that she and i have been dating longer - i realize now that i'm no longer number one in her life. i'm no longer the best friend - that's your role now. i just hope that one day i'm lucky enough to find a man that looks at me the way you look at gina. that loves me the way you love her - and since she still got first dibs on a husband - i hope when i see him on my wedding day ... he'll be at the end of the isle wearing pants.
happy anniversary to the two of you!
i
love you more than i can put into words.
