my careless contagion

They say you can judge the real power of a man by the size of the smile of the woman next to him. And I see you beaming as you approach him. It's your wedding day. You're more beautiful than I remember.  I'm so glad (and apprehensive) you invited me to your wedding. To see your man's hands tremble slightly as you walk your floating-on-air way of walking to him, your eyes locked, it's so special and so perfect.  As he says his vows, I hear a little tremble in his voice. There is excitement, but there is also a wall of emotion pushing against his vocal cords; it's rivulets of feeling I hear. I can tell he loves you, but so much bigger than that. He knows he's found a precious thing in you, and he is more than ready to say that word "forever," even though we all know there is no such thing. Standing where I am, I see you blushing. Even your ears have turned red. There is a rushing in you, too, that begs to meet his rushing. When you're al...

  I can see it as clear as my reflection in the mirror. It's you and me, sweet girl, making our run for it. From the church, past the people, and into the sunshine. It's you and me, and it's the story I've been aching to write — our story.  We drive into that breezy, balmy morning, away from all of that noise. It's just you and me for a moment, dear, as I park the car and we both stop, our hearts still pounding like the rain on a tin roof. Our eyes meet, and it hits us like the first peals of thunder. This is it, honey, and for the rest of our lives. This is the moment we've been waiting for. I belong to you and you belong to me.  Your face is blushing and my hands are shaking, and I can barely see straight because it's all happening too fast. I just want to slow it down, you know, and make it last. It's slipping away, and I'm grasping at it, and it's almost gone again ... until I realize you're not going anywhere. You've just pro...