Little Boy Grown -- jcarolek

Today was a magical day for my nephew. He and his fiancee married in a lovely ceremony held in their favorite place....Walt Disney World. There was nothing Mickey Mouse about the ceremony. Well, OK, after the ceremony I did notice my nephew sporting a top hat with Mickey Mouse ears, but the ceremony itself was very traditional in format, though the vows this young couple exchanged were more their own and exchanged without prompting from the minister.
It was a well attended affair, considering none of the bride or groom's family is from the Orlando, FL area. We all traveled a fair distance to witness the event. I sat at the back with the video camera, capturing the soloists, the guy in the kilt playing the bagpipe, the friends and family in attendance, the groom and his groomsmen as they made their way down the aisle to the alter where they turned, awaiting the arrival of the bridesmaids and finally the bride, beautiful in her fairy tale wedding dress.

As I zoomed in on the young couple, I saw his smile, a reflection of hers, their profiles giving away their complete happiness. And I thought of the little boy who was always happy to play quietly by himself, who, as a teenager read the newspaper from cover to cover, committing to memory the sports statistics, the quiet, hard working student who, shortly before graduating from college with an engineering degree, asked his parents if they would mind terribly if he didn't go to work in that field.....he wanted to work at Disney, and it occurred to me we really never have a clue what our children will choose, when the choices are completely their own. I recognized the smile, the smile of the little boy, happily engrossed in his self-directed play, but now all grown up, and comfortable in his choice of life and life partner.

I'm so very happy we cannot know, when these children are small, when we are in control of the fulfillment of their dreams, how they will "turn out" as adults, where their dreams will lead them. My imagination would never have found Richard happily working in an amusement park, marrying a beautiful, and talented young lady in Orlando, FL. And yet, it was, I am sure, obvious to all that this IS his dream, this is THEIR dream.

Still...... that cute little boy shines through the all grown up man... shines through that smile.