Dress-up

Been a while... Here's what's happened: I married Jay. I finished my Masters. I'm working as an advanced practice nurse. I just bought nice underwear. My favorite cat died. From competitive eating syndrome. We got married at the church I grew up in. It's funny, I always had this fantasy of walking down the aisle in my little stone church, with the light pouring in from the beautiful windows. I thought about how much I would relish that moment. I lived it over and over again in my head, switching out fantasy grooms over the years, of course. And you know something? I don't even remember doing it when I actually did it! I had a beautiful, simple lace dress from Ann Taylor, and a veil. My dad walked me down the aisle, wearing a grey suit. There was a lot of kerfuffle over the suit. And I saw a side to my father I never imagined existed. Right after we announced our engagement, my father called me and asked, "What do you want me to wear to the wedding?" "Oh, I don't know, Dad. I don't even know where we're going to have the wedding." "Well, I need to know early." "Ok," I said, "just a nice black suit." Just to say something. A week later: "A black suit will make me look like an Italian waiter. Is the wedding going to be in the morning, evening, or afternoon?" I had no idea. "Ok, grey suit then." It was February. We'd set the date in June. "Single breasted, double breasted, what shade?" "Just grey." "There are thousands of shades of grey. What is Jim wearing?" "A grey suit." "What shade?" "Just get something you feel comfortable in." "What are the bridesmaids wearing?" "Hyacinth." "Oh--the dresses in J. Crew? Is that the color? Which dress?" He knows the J. Crew bridesmaid dress selection? "I told them they could pick their own...suggested the Haley, strongly." Just to confuse him. But he had me. "Ummmm.....I don't know. Cotton Cady. Are you having the wedding outside? And the Haley is a little--I don't know--plain. What about the Anita?" "Why do you know so much about dresses?" He got offended. "I'm looking at the website!" "Why do you care?" "Because I don't want to look like a piece of shit!" This is the man who, to avert a conflict in the Libyan desert with a nomadic raiding party, bowed and handed over his shoes. What he was doing in the Libyan desert in 1977, we still don't really know. So, I ended up choosing the Anita. And my father wore a slate grey suit (and so did everyone else!), with a tie that coordinated with the bridesmaids dresses. That's my half-hour.