Last weekend, my older cousin Matt got married and it was
one of the most beautiful, most fun, and most heart-warming experiences I’ve
had thus far in life.
It has been a long journey for him, my Matty Pat. Family
drama has pulled at him from all sides since childhood and, out of three
siblings, he was the most successful in his survival. He knew when to get out,
when to reach for other hands, when to make grown-up decisions in a teenager’s
shoes.
In our family, the cousins are more like siblings. Or at
least, most of them are. [Insert long
story about family drama here.] There are five of us – me and my brother,
Lyndsay and hers, and Matt – and as we’ve grown up, it’s as though we’ve come
to resemble each other more and more. There are roots that run deep, attributed
to the early passing of our grandparents, which only served to bring us closer
together.
His bride-to-be, Amy, is a dream. She’s boisterous and fun,
fitting in effortlessly with the unique dynamic my family has, joining in the
random dance parties and the late night heart-to-heart discussions. After the
first family gathering she attended, we all fell in love.
Amy also has cystic fibrosis, the disease that almost took
my friend Emily. I am blown away by Matt – although I understand it’s love and
love conquers all things – because he’s starting his life with someone who
might be taken away from him far too soon, after essentially having part of his
family slip through his fingers. I stand in awe of him. He is the strongest
person I know and probably will ever know.
That’s why, when he stepped out onto his late
father’s back deck, in a suit and Converse sneakers, I cried. I kept crying as
he watched his bride make her entrance, as they said their vows, as he pulled a
leaf out of her hair, and as she nearly leapt into his arms to kiss her new
husband. It was an emotional moment for everyone – my family especially – but I
was borderline sobbing.
Part of it was pride. Beaming, limitless pride and happiness
that this boy was now this man who was marrying his soulmate.
The other part, however, was the realization that Matt has
become my role model. Being the oldest of two siblings and the first of seven
cousins on my mom’s side of the family, I don’t have many people older than me
to look up to. When we were growing up, we were all just kids, goofing around
and not taking each other seriously. Now that we’re adults, I’ve watched Matt
grow into the kind of person I can only hope to be.
The reception was beyond what I could've anticipated – Pinterest ideas come to life, tons of delicious food, an open bar with limitless Malibu Bay Breezes. I
watched my cousin, as a notorious non-dancer, indulge his bride by joining in on
the dance floor (after a bit of liquid courage, of course). It was one of those times where I took a mental snapshot that I've been replaying over and over in my head,
in the hopes that I will never forget how it felt in that moment.
