Warm Memories to Remember

When I was a little girl, I loved asking my grandparents about their own life stories, you know the stories that it seems all grandparents love to talk about that bore their grandchildren to tears about the "Golden Age" when everything seemed so much simpler and so much freer. you know when children could stay out all day playing with the neighbourhood kids until the streetlights came on with simple toys and their imagination not like in this day and age where it seems like kids' imagination are shrinking as the new technology increases, it seems like all children now have an MP3 player, an IPod and a cell phone with so many gadgets and applications that the owner's manual is like 26 pages long and it is so complicated that you have to be a brain scientist to understand it. Most kids would whine and pout about having to listen to the same stories over and over again and not really getting the overall message that these "old geezers" who prattle on about nonsense have life lessons to share with the younger generation to pass on to their children and so on. Me and my sisters seemed to be the only children who would listen with immense interest with our eyes bright and intrigued and our chins in our hands as we listen with our whole self at the funny, touching, captivating stories that my nana and papa told us about their youths taking each story into our hearts to remember when unfortunately God decides that it is their time to leave this Earth and we miss them terribly even though no matter what happens they will always be in my heart. My very own storytelling of the life I had growing up with Maddie and Dallas and the life lessons that I had learned from my years of living came to a head when my youngest granddaughter Mitchie ;) asked me in all her 2 year innocence who the "purty lady and guy" are in the picture that she accidently knocked over when she enthusiately played out her fantasy with her Barbie and Ken dolls. I gently took the picture frame out of her hand and examined it with loving eyes as memories came flooding back as I gazed at mine and my husband for the last 38 years, man does time go fast when you are still madly in love, Sterling Knight, wedding picture. Wow even though it has been 38 years since Sterling and I got married, it still feels like yesterday that we were both young people venturing on the lifelong journey of spending our lives together as husband and wife. Even after, two beautiful kids, Micheal (Mikey) and Katherine (Katie) which resulted in two more matches of heaven with their spouses Charlie and Anne which made Sterling and I the proud and adoring grandparents of four grandchildren, two boys Christopher and David and two girls Mitchelle and Kayla, I'm proud to say that Sterling and I still act like a young newlywed madly in love all starry-eyed about their future together, all gushy, lovey dovey and "gross" according to our darling grandsons who fake gag, roll their eyes and moan "Get a room" whenever I and Sterling act all loving, even if it is a simple kiss, a simple endearment like sweetie, honey or even babe or even a pat on the butt. Hey we can't help it that your Nana and Papa are still madly in love and aren't afraid to show it. Anyway back to my story, I gathered my little Mitchie into my arms and explained in a gentle, low, what Sterling calls my "motherly" tone, voice that the lady and man in the picture were Nana and Papa when they got married. At her interested and intrigued look on her little, adorable face, I gathered her tiny body deeper into my arms and gestured for her older brother and two older cousins to come here for another one of Nana's trip down memory lane which surprisingly they did without any eye rolling. I don't think in my lifetime I will ever forget the day that Sterling and I got married, heck I even remember the utter joy and happiness I felt in every cell of my body when I saw the beautiful crystal sterling diamond ring being held in a shaking hand by the love of my life as he said one of the most romantic, sweetest and heart-warming speech since the day he told me that he loved me. Why on earth would he think I would say "No"? I couldn't stop smiling or squeal with joy whenever I thought of that starting the night of May,6 2013, I would be joined in life and marriage to the man of my dreams. I couldn't wait to get married to Sterling on June, 26,2014, I even didn't mind the strenuous and tedious tasks of wedding planning, Sterling and I had no wedding planner to help us with the tasks but our loving family and friends tried to help us with as much planning as they could. It was all to plan the perfect day for both Sterling and me that we would always remember as the day we become one as husband and wife. No bridezilla for me. Like anything else in life, there were people who tried to damper my happiness and joy about getting engaged to Sterling which entailed immature comments posted on the pictures that Sterling posted on Twitter and his Facebook of our Engagement pictures, taken by a professional photographer in a local park in different romantic positions like Sterling leaning against a tree holding me close as I sit in between his legs, us forehead to forehead and us gazing into each other's eyes as we have our arms around each other's waist etc. It was kind of sad that these people actually thought that both Sterling and I would change our own feelings for each other just because we have people who don't accept our relationship. Oh believe me sweeties, the feelings that Sterling and I have for each other is true love, the kind that fairy tales are made of and the kind that will last forever and I'm sorry that some people don't like the fact that Sterling and I are getting married but nothing will change my love for him. Luckily Sterling and I didn't take any offense or notice of the hate that we have been getting. we would just delete all the mean and rude comments so they don't ruin the atmosphere of the happy, congratulatory and loving comments we have been getting from our family and friends who were beyond thrilled about us getting married, just like I knew they would be. I have my biological family but also my heart family which entail our closest, beyond best friends, honorary siblings. The days leading up to the wedding were hectic, I mean I had a comedy TV show "Mike and Kelly" about two couples during their courtship and all its screw-ups and distractions, Sterling had his TV show "All the King's Men" about four men living together dealing with their conflicting personalities (Sterling is a sweet, sensitive guy who is just trying to find his Ms Right but his roommates were always trying to ruin his good guy image) planning the wedding and of course have a semi personal life. I would think that on the actual wedding day I would be nervous, which we told the press was one date, April 2nd in a local park, in order to get them off our case about when the wedding was to take place cause they would then crash it and take unauthorized pictures of our wedding then put them online to anyone who has a computer to access. I wanted Sterling and mine's wedding photos to be private, only shown between me and my future husband to look at and reminiscence about our wonderful day where we joined our lives. I wanted as many pictures as I could get of the entire ceremony if possible,of me and Sterling with our friends, bridal party and family and of course as many pictures of Sterling and I in romantic poses like Sterling holding me in a bridal carry, holding each other close with our arms wrapped around each other's waist and kissing while the camera flashes etc. I will treasure those photographic memories forever. I was kind of nervous to marry Sterling because I was only 23 so I was pretty young when I got married and I know that marriage isn't something to be taken lightly, it a serious lifelong commitment to someone, putting their needs, wants, desires and dreams into complete consideration putting your spouse before what you want and need, to think of someone other then yourself. Not many people can handle the fact that their marriage wasn't what they dreamed of or read in fairy tales as children, yes being in love is wonderful and a beautiful, life-fulfilling thing but like anything in life it comes with pain, troubles and issues that with a lot of patience, listening, understanding, teamwork and hard work anyone can overcome any obstacle put in front of the couple. That is why most marriages don't last very long cause the couples aren't willing to put in the effort to save their marriages so they just give up. When I got nervous, I just took some deeps breaths and thought about my love, I pictured Sterling's handsome face and even more gorgeous personality, the one that had made me fall deeply in love with him in the first place, and suddenly its like all the nervousness and anxiety goes away and all I can focus on is my happiness and excitement about marrying Sterling and spending our lives together as one so my smile gets a mile wider and my mood inflates like a balloon so that I'm girlishly ecstatic once again. The ceremony was so beautiful. I spent the morning with my best girlfriends and sisters having our nails and hair done by each other totally being all girly, talking about the special guys in our lives and watching "Ever After". It was a total chick morning, it was so easygoing and carefree that I might have forgotten it was my wedding day if I wasn't so freaking ecstatic about getting to the church and marrying my dream guy. After a few stops at bridal stores with Tiffany (Bridesmaid), my mom, Dallas (Maid of Honor) and Maddie (Bridesmaid) for help on picking out the perfect wedding gown for me and after many "I like it but it's just not you" kind of dresses, I found it; it was a strapless, chiffon lightweight dress that had a pale pink ribbon around the waist and trailed a little bit behind me. It was the perfect dress for a sunset beach wedding by the ocean, not too heavy and just the right amount of frill without going over the top. I curled my hair into large waves and put my make-up on lightly, my "something blue" was my saphire earrings from my grandma, my "something new" was the charm bracelet with charms from Sterling to symbolize key moments in our relationship, like a key to symbolize that I will always have the keys to Sterling's heart, an effial tower for our trip to Paris and a comedy face for our meeting on "Sonny with a Chance", "something old" was a string of pearls from my mom that had been in our family for many years and "my something borrowed" was a blue butterfly clip for my hair from Tiff. I didn't start to get butterflies in my tummy until I was in the bridal tent getting ready to leave the tent with dad. As I was watching Tiff, Dallas and Maddie walking too slowly for my liking down the rose covered aisle as a small group of guests, we only had close friends and family there, my tummy felt like there were a small amount of butterflies in there fluttering but I wasn't overly nervous. I couldn't take my eyes off my guy then again Sterling couldn't take his eyes off me as dad walked me down the aisle towards the rest of my life. I think I floated down the aisle and it was like everybody else melted away leaving just me and Sterling all alone on this entire beach. I barely heard anything the preacher was saying as all I could see was my Sterling's beautiful blue eyes just drawing me in and just shining with all the love I ever wanted and dreamed about as a little girl and needed in my life. I'm sure that my eyes were shining just as much as his or maybe even more cause my heart felt like it would burst with all the love that I had in my heart for Sterling. Sterling and I decided that to make the wedding even more personal that we would write our own vows. Sterling's vows made me tear up because they were so sweet, romantic and you could tell that they were written from the heart and my gentlemen gently wiped all the tears or even the beginning of tears with a hankerchief stuck in his sleeve with a soft smile. Even after all these years I have his vows written in my heart and if I forget Sterling still has his vows written on a lined paper that was put into our wedding alblum along with the pictures of that wonderful day. His vows: "Demi, I love you more then I ever thought that I could ever love someone. You are in my mind 24\7 and all my descions and thoughts have been centred around you. You are my whole world and all I want is to make you happy and feel loved because you are loved not only by me but by everyone you meet. I won't promise we won't fight, or say something that will hurt the other person's feelings but I do know that we will never go to bed angry, we will talk things out until whatever made us mad is resolved cause I love you and don't want anything to hurt\harm you whether physically or emotionally, your well-being is top prority to me. I will spend the rest of our lives together making sure that you know how much my world was made better with your beautiful personality and calming, supportive prescence in my life and hopefully I can be the same calming, supportive, loving prescence in your life. I love you and I'm can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you side by side." I had spent a full day on my vows, I kept writing them over and over again so that it was concentrated into my brain so that I could gaze deep into my love's beautiful blue eyes with all the love in my heart and confess all my love in words and not mess up. My vows: "Like any other little girl I had dreamed about the man I would marry and live happily ever after. After meeting you I realized that I had found the man of my dreams, my very own Prince Charming. You are everything I could ever want in my life and I know in my heart of hearts that we will be together forever in love. I know that our life together won't be perfect but I am so much in love with you that I'm willing to go to the ends of the Earth and do anything to make sure that we don't stay mad at each other for very long as you mean the world to me. I love you with every fibre of my being and will support you through good and tough times just like you have for me since the magical day we met. The day we met was one of the best days of my life cause I met the man who encompases all the genuine, sweet, sensitive, caring, supportive personalities that I hope that I can be in your life. I love you with all my heart and soul and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." Then the priest said the 7 words both Sterling and I were dying to hear; "I know pronounce you husband and wife", to concrete the fact that now Sterling and I are joined by marriage, then it was time to seal the deal, it seems like everytime that we kissed even if it wasn't the first time I still felt sparks, the Earth move from under me, and I felt that if Sterling wasn't holding me in his big, strong yet loving arms I might melt inton the ground. Everytime Sterling and I kiss, it's like it's our first kiss all over again and our first kiss as husband and wife was no exception. I didn't even hear the audience cheering and whooping as Sterling took me into his arms, one of my favorite places to be, dipped me and gave me one of his amazing kisses. Our kiss seemed too short for me although my friends have told me that it was a good ten second kiss, cool a new kiss record for Sterling and me. I got so giddy complete with a million watt smile fixed permantently on my face when I heard the DJ announcing "Introducing Mr and Mrs Sterling and Demi Knight" before Sterling and I walked into our reception holding hands to our adoring assembly of family and friends who welcomed us with cheers and whoops. Our first dance was so romantic, it felt like I was on a cloud just floating high above the Earth and Sterling was the cloud holding me and keeping me from plumenting to the ground. I felt so safe and warm in his arms and our song expressed every and all emotions we were feeling for each other, "From This Moment" by Shania Twain. After our dance it was a free for all under the tent with music for every music taste from oldies, rock, pop, love songs and jazz and we rocked the tent, the guests, Sterling and I didn't care how silly or wierd we might have looked we shook what our parents gave us and did some corny and silly dance moves laughing our heads off at the other person's antics but we were having too much fun to care. During the delicious dinner of chicken, rice or mashed potaoes, Cesar or Greek salad and rolls, I loved the tradition of people clicking their glasses to get the bride and groom to kiss, then again why would I need an excuse to kiss my new husband (insert squeals of utter joy and excitement)? I kiss him whenever I want to and Sterling can do the same for me, I would welcome any spontaneous kiss he gives me even if he comes into my dressingroom, grabs me, spins me around, dips me and plants one right on my lips then leaves. Hmm what a lovely daydream I just gave myself. The night to my lovestruck eyes went by so fast so soon it was time for Sterling and I to go on our honeymoon to Aruba for our week long vacation so we kissed, hugged and thanked each one of our family and friends before leaving through a veil of bubbles being blown by our guests as they wished us a safe and fun trip. With a blown kiss to the whole group, we left in our black convertible that someone had tied a group of cans to our car, why on Earth is that a tradition?. I couldn't wait to start mine and Sterling's life together, today was perfect in my eyes and since that is the start of our life together, I have a feeling that the rest of our days will be just as amazing. As I finished my story I could see Chris and Dave pretending to gag and that they were dying with "grossness" at my lovey dovey story, hey its the story that your mom and dad didn't mind hearing as they were growing up plus what makes it even better is that it's the real life love story of your Nana and Papa and one day you two will have your own love story with your loves and then you will be the ones grossing out your children. My two little girls,Mitchie and Kay, had stars in their eyes. They were on their stomachs with their tiny chins in their hands listening and breathing in every romantic aspect of my story, they always were the hopeless romantics in the family so I knew that they appreciated the romantic aspect of my story and were daydreaming, even at age 2 and 3, the day when they had their own love story with their Prince Charmings just like me and their Papa. I hope and pray that not only do my babies have their own love story, as romantic and fulfilling as mine and Sterling's has been, but also that total strangers in every part of the world find their true loves and live "happily ever after". I know from experience that True Love does exist and if you believe in it and work really hard, like anything else, anyone can have their own love story. Isn't love grand?