Like Mother, Like Daughter (well, sort of)

History has officially repeated itself. Sort of. 27 years ago, I was a flower girl in my aunt & uncle's wedding and, as the tale goes, completed the task in typical Laura fashion, carefully placing small, meticulous piles of petals in several very specific locations. I was quiet, timid, demure, and fulfilled my flower girl duties with no extra fanfare or amusement. Fast forward to July 3, 2010 with Anna as flower girl in her Uncle Ben's wedding. In the lobby beforehand (and the rest of the night for that matter), there was giggling, crying, dancing, twirling and plenty of undefinable flailing. She was up the stairs, down the stairs, scattering church pamphlets, dumping petals preemtively, trying to stand on her head, and generally trying her best to completely destory her dress & hair. And then the big moment came. She headed down the aisle without hesitation, sprinkling her flowers as directed until she got halfway and decided to dump the whole basket, saying, "I just dropped them all right here!" Everyone laughted and she retreated. Fortunately dad-dad was waiting at the back of the church and was able to convince her to head back down the aisle and finish the job -- petals or not. As this all unfolded, I was sitting in the front row getting all choked up. It sounds pathetic, but it was my first experience with feeling nervous for my daughter and it broke my heart! There she was, heading down that aisle all by herself with everyone staring at her. Not that it would have mattered if she did something totally crazy or didn't do anything at all, but it was big for me because I realized it was the first of many times that I'll have to send her out into the world and let her do something on her own. Oh the sadness of realizing that I can't hold her hand forever! This may sound dramatic, but the feeling was real. So anyways, getting back on track... despite a very serious case of the wiggles and an approach which bore no resemblance to the one I took as flower girl, Anna was a true success. Charming. Amusing. Fearless. My girl.