STOP. LOOK. BREATHE.

Gratitude #142 - This Moment. This woman, this man; my best friend, my sister, my brother. I have been planning this very moment along with Ashley for the past fifteen years when she first showed me the wedding dress that she was planning to wear, at the tender age of seventeen - full of hopes, dreams and romantic notions. I can’t stand here today and tell you all about how crazy Ash was as a young adult, or how much she has calmed down and changed over the years. The truth is the Ashley has always been one the most grounded and consistent human beings that I have ever known. Her personal growth and development into the amazing woman who sits here today has always been steady and strong, with giant bursts of self-awareness along the way. She is the perpetual voice of reason in my head, the ying to my yang. Her strength has often been the only thing to keep me up on my two feet and maintaining a forward momentum. I am not quite sure who, or where, I would be today without her love. If you know Ash at all, you know that some of the most beautiful things about her are her big heart, her tenderness, compassion, focus, work ethic, never-ending talent, creativity and, my personal favourite, her ideological sense of the world around her. I believe that a piece of what drives Ashley to work so hard at making the world a better place is her deep belief that she can. She makes me believe that I can, too; constantly challenging me and inspiring me to try harder; be better…they both do. Someone asked me recently if I had met Richard…or if I had had the opportunity to get to know him at all. The question took me a bit aback, as I feel as if I have known him my entire life, though it has only been a few short years. It is a special thing to build and grow a separate relationship with the man who your best friend is going to marry. I feel so honoured to have Richard in my life and am so grateful for the energy and love that he has shared with me on this journey. I have come to regard Rich as not only one of my dearest friends, but as my brother. I truly believe that these two people have been brought together by magical things that I will not pretend to understand. I have watched them grow together consciously, and with intention and I have been honoured today to stand witness as they start their life together as husband and wife. There are precious too few marriages that stand the test of time, but I know, deep in my soul, that this will be one of them. The most important gift that they have given me is that they make me still believe in true love. Please, join me by raising your glasses in honor of love, commitment, learning, growing, understanding, patience and most of all, to friendship. 03.29