\u201cDear Aunt Donna,\u201d Mia began, her voice trembling through the ballroom speakers, \u201cI\u2019ve wanted to tell you something for a long time. Something very important that I think you\u2019ve forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donna\u2019s smile faltered.<\/p>\n
Not much.<\/p>\n
Just enough for me to see it.<\/p>\n
She was still standing in the middle of the dance floor with Claire\u2019s bouquet clutched against her chest as though she had won some great prize. A few rose petals had been crushed beneath her fingers. One white ribbon hung loose from the stems, swaying whenever she moved.<\/p>\n
Mia looked tiny beneath the chandeliers.<\/p>\n
Tiny, but somehow no longer fragile.<\/p>\n
Her wheelchair was angled toward the center of the room. Her shoulders were still trembling. Her cheeks were wet. The microphone looked too large in her hands.<\/p>\n
For one terrible second, I thought she might lose her nerve.<\/p>\n
Then she lifted her chin.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always tell everybody that catching the bouquet means you\u2019ll be the next person to get married.\u201d<\/p>\n
A nervous murmur moved through the guests.<\/p>\n
Donna gave a little laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d she said, almost proudly, \u201cthat\u2019s the tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mia nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think you\u2019re confused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several people turned toward one another.<\/p>\n
Donna frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mia swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flowers aren\u2019t what make somebody want to marry you.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a sound from one of the tables.<\/p>\n
A muffled snort.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Donna\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
Mia continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think being kind matters more.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pair of hands began clapping near the back.<\/p>\n
Slowly.<\/p>\n
Three times.<\/p>\n
Then they stopped.<\/p>\n
Mia looked toward the sound, surprised.<\/p>\n
An elderly man at Claire\u2019s father\u2019s table smiled at her.<\/p>\n
So Mia kept going.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think how you treat people matters more too.\u201d<\/p>\n
More applause.<\/p>\n
Not loud yet.<\/p>\n
But growing.<\/p>\n
Donna shifted her weight.<\/p>\n
\u201cMia,\u201d she said sharply, \u201cthat\u2019s enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DJ moved closer to my daughter.<\/p>\n
Not threateningly.<\/p>\n
Protectively.<\/p>\n
I had known him only a few hours, but in that moment I loved him.<\/p>\n
Mia looked at Donna.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said nobody would marry me because I can\u2019t walk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donna\u2019s eyes flicked around the room.<\/p>\n
Apparently, she was beginning to notice what everyone else had noticed several minutes earlier.<\/p>\n
No one was laughing with her anymore.<\/p>\n
No one was on her side.<\/p>\n
My mother was staring at the tablecloth.<\/p>\n
Claire looked ready to explode.<\/p>\n
Her new husband had one hand on her shoulder, probably keeping her from crossing the room and doing something that would ruin the wedding photographs.<\/p>\n
Donna lowered the bouquet.<\/p>\n
\u201cDear Aunt Donna,\u201d Mia began, her voice trembling through the ballroom speakers, \u201cI\u2019ve wanted to tell you something for a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6991,"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987\/revisions\/6991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saborencasa.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}