Our son’s to be a bridegroom
his sister, a bridesmaid

the bride’s our new blessing
the daughter-in-law we couldn’t have
made-to-order more perfect

our two grown children together again
after two years of living
in cities distant from each other and us
for that period our family
was an extended triangle
stranded by its points
with them barely seeing one another
for almost two years

now brother and sister
have returned to their hometown
and share in one another’s lives
to real depth again

last night tears of joy
welled once more in my eyes
at the latest news
since the excitement of
the pre-Christmas engagement
as the young ladies told me together
of his sister’s role in the wedding

hearing the enthralled couple planning
for the wedding in a year and half
sharing decisions and choices aloud
they take me way back

so tonight I indulged in a few precious moments
to revisit diary pages thirty years old
read again the penned dreams
of another December fiancee
and her hopes for the future
with her bridegroom, their father
anticipating their wedding
a year-and-half from then
in the month of May

01/04/2004