Today’s the day after my brother’s wedding. It was truly a wonderful day. I had a lot of emotion, a lot of fun, and more wine than I planned. Today has been a day of recovery, starting with waking up and having brunch with two of my best friends on their joint-birthday, followed by packing up, picking up my brother and sister-in-law’s cats, and driving up to Door County. We arrived a little while ago and I am happy and exhausted.
I officiated yesterday’s ceremony – to my great honor and anxiety – so today I thought I’d share part of the script I wrote in tribute to my brother and his new wife:
Thank you for joining us on this beautiful summer day to celebrate Wesley and Amanda! We’ve watched their decade long journey. We’ve seen them grow as individuals and as partners. And now we’ll watch them commit to a new, lasting chapter in their lives. Today has been a long time in the making.
Wes, Amanda, I’ve been fortunate to have prime seats to your relationship. I can’t tell you how honored I am that you asked me to share this moment with you.
Amanda, today you officially become my sister. But we both know the truth is that you’ve been my sister for many years. I don’t recall the first time we met because you have been in my life for nearly as long as I can remember. You’ve gone from one of the random kids a couple of grades below me to my brother’s girlfriend, to my friend. When you started coming up to Door County we got to know one another other over board games, bike rides, and a few bottles of wine. And in the Morgan household, once you come up North with us, you are family.
And I am so lucky to call you family Amanda — you have this terrific light to you. I’ve had the chance to work with you, live with you, travel with you, and laugh with you. And I can say this: you are intelligent and kind and my favorite thing about you is your great capacity to feel, empathize, and love. You don’t hold your passion back. You are a hard worker, an exciting friend, and a good, good human. It truly makes you one of the most gorgeous women in the world.
And Wes. My brother. And my friend. It has been and will continue to be, the privilege of my life to be your sister. You have been on my side no matter what and shown me what deep compassion towards others looks like. You are so in tune to what people need, to what I’ve needed, and so worthy of all the love and triumphs the world will give. Though we are two years apart, I feel like I’ve spent a lot of my life looking up to you. In fact, people are usually surprised to find out you are the younger sibling. But we have walked step by step with each other, from playing Legos and Barbies and Mario Kart and riding out each other’s pre-pubescent moods to talking about the big stuff, or what seemed big to two teenagers playing ping pong in the basement. We talked about Amanda back then. And I watched you fall in love with her.
Now I love collaborating with you, debating with you, nerding out with you, and learning more about who I am through you. You are a funny, beautiful little brother. And a wonderful, brave man.
From afar, I’ve seen both of you conquer the roadblocks of adolescence and early adulthood. I’ve seen you strengthen your personal values, make exciting plans, take risks, and through it all, lean into one another. I’ve seen your high school romance evolve into a committed partnership that has brought us here today.
You’ve gone on adventures, you’ve adopted cats, you’ve navigated the daily minutia of work and friends and stress and celebration and had each other’s backs. You’ve shown us what love looks like when it’s real and woven into your everyday language.
As your every days change, remember what has made both of you so strong. Keep being a team. Keep letting your love grow and change too.
Because that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? To love is the best part of our humanity. We love our family, our friends, our community, our partners and it brings out the very best in each one of us. Despite our differences, love is a language we all understand.
It’s spoken in the big moments. When you first said “I love you” to each other, when you moved in together, when you adopted Cleo and Nyla, got engaged, and are now standing in front of everyone you love getting married. But love is also spoken in all those small moments. Getting a hug from each other after work, binge-watching a sitcom on Netflix, grilling out for dinner, sharing holidays with your family, driving up to Door County. They all matter, all the moments big and small, love is speaking. Remember to listen. . .
With Love,
Natalie