Several decades ago, I walked down the aisle with a young lady named Gail. We were cousins. Before you jump to the wrong conclusion, let me clarify. I was 7. She was 5. Gail was the flower girl and I was the ring bearer at the wedding of a cousin 20 years older than us.
Happy to clear that up. What I remember most from that day is that Gail was really cute and I was really nervous, memories that would play out again many years later at my own wedding to my college sweetheart, my late wife Dianne. Dianne was really cute. I was really nervous.
As cousin Gail and I grew into young adulthood, I would see her from time to time at family gatherings. But we lived in different orbits. Although we were best buddies as kids and young adults, Gail eventually went her way, I went mine. She married a wonderful guy named Chet and raised two beautiful daughters. I married Dianne and we raised two great kids of our own, a daughter and a son…