A north Dakota wedding

Friday morning as I walked outside the Denver airport, walked up a rickety ramp and onto a plane that might fit inside my house I thought, "these ramps and planes should really be reserved for places like Tahiti or some exotic location". I thought about how much I spent to walk onto this tiny little toy plane, and thought it was just an unfair tease. All this to fly into Bismarck, north Dakota?

Then instantly I remembered why I was flying there and I thought 'yup, and I'd do it a thousand times over if it's for kaila'

There's not much I wouldn't do for kaila, and part of the reason is because there's not much she wouldn't do for me either. She is such a generous person - she'd give her time, her money, or the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it. And she is one of the few people who generally knows what I need to hear or do in any situation. She knows what to say better than anyone else when deployment has me down, she knew exactly what to do the day Austin left for his second deployment, she drove to the opposite end of Denver at 1am to pick me up from a wedding so that I wouldn't have to pay for a cab...and those are just a drop in the bucket. She's done and done and given and given, and nothing made me happier than to be a part of her beautiful wedding.

I think I knew of Justin within a week of meeting kaila 5 years ago- except what she had to say about him was that he was her annoying ex, but the one she knows she could have at any time. I never described Austin as annoying, but I did warn her that the rest of her story matched mine pretty well. Austin was in love with me far before and long after we dated, and I always knew that if the timing were right (ie if he didn't have a girlfriend) he'd gladly date me again. Austin always stopped at nothing to make sure I knew how much he loved me and he would have done anything to make me happy. Kaila said the same of Justin, and I warned her that she should be careful what she says about him because maybe ours stories will have similar endings.

I had no idea 5 years ago that not only would their story have the same ending, but that I would be standing up at the altar in support of it. Kaila had 10 bridesmaids which seems like a lot, and it was, but it makes sense. She is the most devoted friend and as a result has so many strong bonds, there's no way she couldn't have had 10. And her friends were all just like her...kind, funny, warm and inviting...and my goodness that girl had the most beautiful bridal party I think I've ever seen. It all fits so well. She had 10 truly amazing and beautiful friends standing beside her, all willing just like me to give anything for kaila.

As beautiful as Tahiti sounds, and as much as my toes yearn for the white sands of beautiful calming beaches, there is truly no place in the world I would have rathered be this weekend than fesseden, north Dakota. Sleeping in a house with frogs on the floor missing my son like crazy. Like I said, I'd do it all a thousand times over and more because not only was it my honor to be a part of her wedding, but because I'd do anything in the world for her.




A big congratulations to mr and mrs Muscha. Love you both!


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