5.What life lesson did you learn the hard way?

I learned that not all of my dreams are going to come true.

See, when I was a little girl, like all little girls, I had my wedding all planned out way ahead of time.  I just knew that my Daddy would walk me down the aisle, and that my Mom would sing "The Wedding Song" by Paul Stookey, and all would be right in the world.  The only thing not set in stone was who the groom was going to be.

Also like all little girls, life plays cruel tricks on us.  My wedding was very far from what I planned.  Neither Daddy or Mom were there because of circumstances well beyond their or anyone else's control.  If you know me (and so far, all 3 of my followers do), then you know why Mom wasn't there.  Daddy had just buried his own Mom a week before, and had used all of his vacation time to spend her last moments with her.  Oh yeah, and I forgot my vows at the house, the candles were left at the hotel, and the marriage certificate was MIA until right before the ceremony.

Was I crushed on what was the happiest day of my life?  Sure.  Of course.  But, and here's where I realized that it's never all about me.  There was no one to blame for my plans being dashed.  And, in the end, it was the most perfect wedding, with the most perfect groom.  My brother and his family flew all the way from Texas and he walked me down the aisle.  His little girls, who are such beautiful teenagers now, were my flower girl and ring girl.  Oh, and the song mentioned above?  Yeah, it was sung.  By the most awesome father-in law a girl could ask for.  And, a shout out to Nick Leninger, who somehow turned a normally 40 minute round trip into 20, arriving in perfect time for me to read the vows that I had written while floating in the middle of the Indian Ocean, just weeks after 9/11.  More than a year before I had to say them. =)

So, no, my dreams didn't come true; at least the dreams I knew about.  Yet the dreams that I had no idea about back when I was planning my perfect wedding turned out to be the truest dreams ever.  I have so many wonderful things in my life, that if a stray dream doesn't come true, I'm okay.  I can continue dreaming.