Coincidence?
There she was, Amy Gerstein, over by the pool, kissing my father. Mom and Dad divorced three years ago, but I never stopped hoping that they would some day get back together, even after my mom married Tom, a desperately boring plumber from the wrong side of the tracks, if you ask me. I can’t believe she left Dad for him. Dad started dating Amy about six months ago, and things have been great ever since. She has made my dad the happiest he has ever been and in turn made me very happy too. Not many girls can say this, but Dad is one of my best friends. When I was in elementary school, he coached my little league softball and soccer teams. We spent all of our free time together. Fishing, watching the stars, reading to each other; he was my first crush. I know it sounds gross, but a lot of my friends were that way, and don’t they always say that girls grow up to marry someone just like their dad. I know I did.
We attended the same high school, but didn’t really get to know each other until Mom’s wedding, he was my cousin’s date. We were drinking champagne. I was drinking a lot to get over my mom marrying Tom and he just came over and started talking. We reminisced about high school, how being in the band made him less than desirable for a cheerleader like me, how he had always had a crush on me, but never had the nerve to talk to me, how of all the people in the band, this one, this guy had always sort of fascinated me, because he reminded me so much of my dad, shy and self-conscious, cute in his own way and really smart. That night was the beginning of a new life for me.
The only problem was, I was terrified to marry Greg because I didn’t know what had broken up my parent’s marriage and I really didn’t want that to happen to me. I had to ask them. I had to confront my parents to know it wasn’t me who caused the problems. With all the time my dad spent with me, did my mom feel abandoned, left out? Did she hate me for stealing my dad away from her? Nope. What a relief it was to know that, but it was the stupidest thing, the last time they saw a movie together, Dad didn’t buy her Rolos. They didn’t have any, but somehow that was it, she didn’t care. She thought he should have gone to the gas station to get her some if he had to, but their whole divorce over Rolos, crazy. In my mind, I knew that wasn’t really the reason, that there was more behind the Rolos, that it really was her feeling left out, like he loved me more than he loved her, but I accepted the Rolos because marrying Greg was a dream come true for me, and I wasn’t about to let my parent’s divorce ruin my happiness.
We married in this intimate little ceremony in Dad’s backyard. We had some of our high school friends there, a few of my cheerleader friends, a few of his band friends and our families. That’s when Dad and Amy met. She was the band director at our high school. They didn’t start dating for about a year after the wedding, but they had cultivated a real friendship during that time. Dad even asked Greg and me if it was okay for him to date her, of course we were both ecstatic. Amy was like a second mother to Greg, so them dating was perfect. That day by the pool was the day Dad asked Amy to marry him. Of course, she said, “Yes.”
And that brings us to now, me standing here in a beautiful green dress, Greg in a tux across from me, and Dad, watching with tear-filled eyes as his bride walks toward him, radiant in her wedding dress, smiling, happy. Isn’t it amazing how much life can change for the better even through something as horrible as Mom marrying Tom?
All writing is property of author and cannot be used unless written permission is given.
No comments:
Post a Comment