Man of Honor

In an effort to remember the details I don't want to forget, I've been periodically blogging about elements of our wedding. The intention was to do it when the ideas were really fresh in my mind...and I'm not sure they are now, two years later, but there are still several elements of the day I'd like to journal as I'm sure I remember more now that I will, say, two years from now!

This has to do with my "Man of Honor."

I knew that when I got married, there was one person I wanted standing next to me. Michael and I dreamed of a ceremony where we would exchange vows with our brothers by our sides.

And we did:

But getting him to the alter (in an upright position) was no small feat.

He arrived from California a couple days before the wedding, as fun and energetic as ever. The rehearsal was flawless and he not only practiced being "Man of Honor" but walking his lovely grandmothers down the aisle.

The rehearsal dinner was great fun and we had a ball...

The next morning, my wedding day, I awoke early. I called up to my parents suite (we were all in the same hotel...he was staying in their suite) to let them know I was on my way up to have coffee with them before starting the exciting day.

The hesitancy in my dad's voice caught me off guard. He sort of muttered, "uh...ok. We'll see you in a couple minutes." I thought it was odd that he wasn't more enthusiastic, but I shrugged it off an headed up to their room. Upon entering, he and my mom exchanged glances and calmly told me that my brother wasn't feeling well...he had come down a case of the stomach flu overnight.

I laughed, said something to the effect of "how bad can it be??" and walked back to his room to see what was up. When I entered and spoke to him, he moaned in the worst way and said he'd been throwing up all night. He was clearly very, very sick.

I walked back into the sitting room and, like a 5-year-old burst into tears, wailing, "but I don't want my brother to be sick! waaaahhhh!" But, within about 3 seconds of bursting into tears, my inner germaphobe caught hold of me and I realized I had better get the heck out of that room before I caught what he had! I flew out the door, telling my mom I'd see her at our hair appointment in a few hours.

Now, one of my mom's best friends, Madeline (and a nurse, like mom) was undergoing cancer treatment prior to and around the time of the wedding. She told her oncologist that she would follow his every instruction regarding the treatment of her diagnosed breast cancer, but she simply MUST be allowed to travel to Kansas City for a wedding in May. He agreed and before she left for the wedding, he gave her several vials of a prescription anti-nausea injection, since that was a common side effects of her treatment.

My mom and her friend met up at some point during the morning and mom told her friend what had happened. Mom was stressing out because she had one kid getting married that day and one kid that couldn't go 10 minutes without puking violently. Madeline pointed out that she had the injections of anti-nausea medications and while the drug made one very tired, it definitely kept the recipient from puking!

At that point, mom made an executive decision and decided Saeth would be getting the shot. When she soft-sounded it with him, he didn't like the idea. So, in full-on nurse modes, she and Madeline entered his room, held him down (which I'm sure wasn't too difficult by this time) and gave him a shot in the rump.

He was NOT happy and apparently he wailed, "my stomach already huuuurt. Now my asss huuurts!"

However, he was able to stop puking for the first time in 12+ hours and come hell or high water, my mom was going to get him to the wedding!!

The next time I saw him, he looked like this:

Bless my parents heart, they were able to get him into a tux and to the church for pictures! He would come out for those he needed to be in, then go lay down until he was needed again.



He didn't quite look like himself, but considering how drugged up he was, I think he did a great job!

Our photographer apparently wasn't the most observant. If you look closely at this photo:

You can see he and my dad, ducking behind a column. He, trying not to pass out. My dad, trying to hold him up!

He made it into and through the ceremony:

And didn't pass out, even though he must have been asked a hundred times if he was going to (by me and Father/Uncle Ed)!

I am so glad that, despite how terribly sick he was, my baby brother stood next to me while I was married...

...though after the ceremony he passed out and missed the entire reception. The only thing about the day that wasn't perfect.

However, by the next day, he was feeling great! Catching up with old friends...

...and back to himself!