Like Gold to Aery Thinness Beat

There's something tremendously fulfilling in watching two good friends love each other.

Before Dianne admitted that she liked Bryce as much more than a friend, the rest of us were not-so-silently cheering for Bryce, essentially campaigning on his behalf. It wasn't too long before the two of them simply lit up just because the other walked into the room, and it was difficult to remember a time when the two of them were not together.

This past weekend marked this royal couple's wedding. And it was beautiful and tender and celebratory. And a dang good reason to dress up and party and dance! with fabulous friends.

Jessica is going to kill me for posting this picture, but I find it hilarious.

The weekend reminded me how blessed I have been in the friend department. At the reception, it was comforting to look around and see so many people who I hold dear all in one place. I miss those people something fierce.

The wedding also reminded me of one of my all-time favorite poems, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne--a poem that I had not visited in quite a while. I discovered this poem during my senior year AP English class. And as a self-proclaimed hater of "romantic" poems, I found the imagery of this poem beautiful, and I still do. True, Bryce and Dianne are not two (cough) lovers who are weathering distance, but the words spoken by the Bishop during the ceremony reminded me of an elevated form of love that Donne tries to illustrate in this poem.

Perhaps it's not always terribly apparent, but my sentimental streak runs thick.