End of a Beautiful Thing = A Beautiful beginning

Let me tell you something about getting married. It's a wonderful celebration, that has given me some growing up skills. Learning to plan all this for just one day. Spending money on things you only use once. I think of all the things Andy and I have been through, college, fights, tragedies, hospital visits, long distance relationship, new nephews and nieces, death. How funny that the bad times and good times would bring us closer. I never thought love would be like this. Better than I imagined. How can you tell someone everything, even really embarrassing things that you wouldn't even tell your sister! How can they still love you after hearing some of them?!With only 6 months left until the big day a tragedy struck me and my future husband. After years of struggling with breast cancer my future mother-in-law passed away. This happened only a week and a half ago, and still doesn't seem real to us. No one knew the extent of what she was dealing with b/c she didn't want anyone to worry. So this came as a huge shock to all of us. Although we are still disarrayed, we continue to live our lives, and expect in the future to live more freely and wild, as she always did. Of all the things she taught me, and all the things she'll never get to teach me, the most important is something we all know we should , but truely don't appreciate. Life. It's something that we all have given to us on a silver platter. We expect it to always be there, and are surprised when it's not. Many of us get stuck in the daily routine of life, forgetting to enjoy it, worrying about all the thing you "have to do" never thinking about what you "what to do". Mary Carol wasn't like that. She brushed off the worries of daily life, of her cancer, and lived life to the fullest. She was always in a different state everytime we called her on the weekends. Andy would ask what are you doing? I would eagerly wait to hear what crazy place she visiting. The first day I met her, after worrying myself sick, I left thinking wow. Andy, my fiance, asked me what I thought. I said she's like a big smilie face, and she was. Always smiling, always laughing, but never surpised by anything. Comforting and peaceful. If you were down she'd bring you up, but not on purpose, just because you couldn't help but be happy around her. The last few days weren't like this, she was out of it. When looking back I can barely remember the hours in the hospital. What even happened? I try to remember because that may be the only thing I have left to tell me that it's real. But I just keep seeing her, smiling, laughing, making me potato casserole when I was sick, buying me Nicholas Sparks books when I had my wisdom teeth taken out, asking her dog, ok?, like she would answer back, ROKAY. I think of how she never wanted to miss or waist a moment in time, and all the things she'll miss now. The saddest thing of all is that she'll miss the happiest day of my life, MAY 5th 2007.