Unplanned Perfection
By John Bach
Julie and I walk Greta down the aisle.
If you would have told me that I’d need to share the honor of walking my daughter down the aisle on her wedding day, I would have said you were completely out of your tree. No way. Not sharing.
This is one of those moments good dads dream about, right? I think I started picturing the traditional father-daughter wedding scene the day we drove newborn Greta home from the hospital in 1999. I’d fallen head over heels for this 7-pound screeching, delicate, perfect, curious human. I remember being fiercely protective of her — to the point that I really didn’t even want visitors to come see our newborn. It stands to reason, then, that 23 years later, I alone would escort her down the aisle — just like tradition would have it.
The trouble is that while I had cast myself into the typical wedding-Dad role, I had failed to realize one crucial thing. I wasn’t writing the script.
None of us expected a breast cancer plot twist in our family’s story just 14 months before Greta’s wedding day. So it wasn’t at all surprising when Greta shared that she wanted both Julie and I to walk her down the aisle. In fact, it was perfect. I didn’t ask, but I suspect she may have made that call no matter what.
Greta and Julie have always been incredibly close, and I absolutely love that she honored her Mom, who had fought through so much to get there, by asking her to join us on the trip down the aisle. Speaking of bucking tradition, Greta also requested that I officiate their ceremony. Didn’t see that one coming either, but what an honor.
As I think back on the September 24th wedding day, there isn’t a thing I’d change, but there is one memory that will remain etched in my mind. It was the moment the three of us reached the back of the aisle. There we stand, arm-in-arm and three across now facing an emotional Logan who waits for his bride lakeside at Historic White Oak Farm.
A deep bass note drops a minute into Greta’s processional song — “Like Real People Do,” by Hozier — and away we go, our final, perfect, too-short walk with our firstborn before she assumes her new name.
Wedding Speech
When our girls were little, most nights I’d take bedtime duty. It was only fair since Julie had been with them the entire day.
That meant our night time routine revolved around a shelf full of wonderful kids books. I remember being tired and worn out at the end of the day, but there would always be that time with the girls reading to them and tucking them into bed.
There were so many great books: “Go Dog Go,” “Are You My Mother?” “Junie B Jones.” But Greta’s favorite when she was a toddler was a book of classic nursery rhymes.
If you know Greta, you know that she’s incredibly intelligent. She’s always been that kid who was off-the-charts smart. And we started to pick up on that when she was really young. I noticed that as we would page through these books, she was reciting entire nursery rhymes along with me.
Thing is, she couldn’t read yet. She was like two years old. She had it all memorized. This kid was literally like a sponge. And it got to the point where she was almost reading to me. (Especially on those nights where I’d fall asleep first.)
Greta, I wouldn’t trade those times with you and your sisters for anything. I have no regrets, but those days went by too fast.
And you have grown into a beautiful, confident and caring person. Your Mom, sisters and I couldn’t be more proud of you. And while we don’t read books together any more, tonight, you are writing the next beautiful chapter in your own story.
Yours is a story that has been filled with so much fun and laughter and joy. It has also been one with scary twists and turns — especially your Mom’s recent chapter. But here we are on the road to recovery and celebrating your marriage to this incredible guy.
Logan, we could not have picked a better man for Greta. You are incredibly caring, smart, funny and — well — so damn handsome!
You didn’t just win over Greta. You won over her sisters, too. As Julie likes to say, you are the brother they never wanted. But, you have become the brother they could never live without.
I consider you a close friend, and WE consider you our son.
May we all write a lifetime of stories that include as much love as Greta and Logan have found together.
To the Bride and Groom!
