My Wedding Speech
So my sister just got married this past weekend, which is why I haven't posted in a long, long, long time. But anyhow, at the reception, I gave a speech. Now, a few minutes before the family was to walk into the reception hall and be introduced, I went into the bathroom to freshen up and go through my speech one more time. At that moment, I discovered that my speech was missing. Now, I had stayed up until about 5:30 that morning finishing up work on the wedding, including revising the speech, so it was pretty fresh in my mind - as fresh as it really could be, I suppose, on 1 1/2 hours of sleep and an entire day of running around. But, as I got up there, I allowed myself to pause in order to remember what was coming next, and I truly believe the speech went better because I didn't have the printout with me. Because, frankly, had it been in hand, my 3 minute speech would have been done in about 1 1/2 minutes, because I do tend to speak faster when I'm nervous.
But anyhow, I thought I'd go ahead and post the original version of my speech, without my interjections and impromptu modifications. I'd have to wait for the wedding video to get the exact text, but for that, I guess I'd just say "you had to be there." So, enjoy:
Today we celebrate the wedding of my sister to her soul mate, Chris. Finding the right person to spend the rest of your life with is one of the most important choices you can make and I am glad to see that Niharika and Chris found each other. When you find your match, you can be happier than you ever thought possible. And certainly, there is no one in this room who is happier at this moment than Nikki and Chris, with the possible exception of my parents.
I imagine this event must remind my parents of when they were first married, of the life that was to follow. Shortly after their marriage, they left India, leaving behind everything and everyone they held dear, in the hopes of providing a better life for their future children. I’m sure they smiled at each other - in their own way – as each of us graduated from college.
But the nature of Indian parents is that their job is not done until they have fulfilled all their duties; not just that of ensuring their children are financially secure and responsible, but also that they are happily married. My sister graduated from college, my parents looking at every college graduate as a potential son-in-law, and the games began. “There’s plenty of time for marriage,” she would say. “I need to first get a job.” They relented… for the time being.
A few years passed, and my sister had been working for a while. My parents started hinting, sometimes not so subtly, that it was about time there was a wedding in the family. Well, I took the hint, bit the bullet, and agreed to get married.
A few years passed, my brother graduated from college, my sister was still working, and, she seemed in no rush to settle down with just anyone. When an opportunity arose in Atlanta, my parents weren’t eager to see her move away – at least without a husband – but, I suppose they figured that at least by moving, she’d get to meet more people, including, perhaps, that special someone. So they waited. But nothing happened.
Finally, they could wait no more. My parents weren’t getting any younger, and they longed to someday hear the pitter patter of little feet wandering around their house. So, in a great move of self-sacrifice, being the only child who seemed to care at all about the feelings of my parents, and hoping to distract my parents from pestering my siblings to get married, I gave my parents their first grandchild. And, seeing as they had been abandoned by their other ungrateful children, who went so far as to move to opposite coasts, I even moved back to Cleveland to take care of them in their golden years. See a pattern here?
A few years later, still no marriages. So I gave them another grandchild. Two more years went by, and who was the giving one? Me. Three grand children, and still, nothing from my siblings. This spring, I even put my house on the market to move closer to my parents – so they wouldn’t even have to drive on the highway to come visit – and then, what to my amazement happened? FINALLY, my siblings started picking up the slack.
So today, as we celebrate their wedding, I want them to know how happy I am for them and I have but one more thing to say “Didi, Chris, it’s about damn time.”
But anyhow, I thought I'd go ahead and post the original version of my speech, without my interjections and impromptu modifications. I'd have to wait for the wedding video to get the exact text, but for that, I guess I'd just say "you had to be there." So, enjoy:
Today we celebrate the wedding of my sister to her soul mate, Chris. Finding the right person to spend the rest of your life with is one of the most important choices you can make and I am glad to see that Niharika and Chris found each other. When you find your match, you can be happier than you ever thought possible. And certainly, there is no one in this room who is happier at this moment than Nikki and Chris, with the possible exception of my parents.
I imagine this event must remind my parents of when they were first married, of the life that was to follow. Shortly after their marriage, they left India, leaving behind everything and everyone they held dear, in the hopes of providing a better life for their future children. I’m sure they smiled at each other - in their own way – as each of us graduated from college.
But the nature of Indian parents is that their job is not done until they have fulfilled all their duties; not just that of ensuring their children are financially secure and responsible, but also that they are happily married. My sister graduated from college, my parents looking at every college graduate as a potential son-in-law, and the games began. “There’s plenty of time for marriage,” she would say. “I need to first get a job.” They relented… for the time being.
A few years passed, and my sister had been working for a while. My parents started hinting, sometimes not so subtly, that it was about time there was a wedding in the family. Well, I took the hint, bit the bullet, and agreed to get married.
A few years passed, my brother graduated from college, my sister was still working, and, she seemed in no rush to settle down with just anyone. When an opportunity arose in Atlanta, my parents weren’t eager to see her move away – at least without a husband – but, I suppose they figured that at least by moving, she’d get to meet more people, including, perhaps, that special someone. So they waited. But nothing happened.
Finally, they could wait no more. My parents weren’t getting any younger, and they longed to someday hear the pitter patter of little feet wandering around their house. So, in a great move of self-sacrifice, being the only child who seemed to care at all about the feelings of my parents, and hoping to distract my parents from pestering my siblings to get married, I gave my parents their first grandchild. And, seeing as they had been abandoned by their other ungrateful children, who went so far as to move to opposite coasts, I even moved back to Cleveland to take care of them in their golden years. See a pattern here?
A few years later, still no marriages. So I gave them another grandchild. Two more years went by, and who was the giving one? Me. Three grand children, and still, nothing from my siblings. This spring, I even put my house on the market to move closer to my parents – so they wouldn’t even have to drive on the highway to come visit – and then, what to my amazement happened? FINALLY, my siblings started picking up the slack.
So today, as we celebrate their wedding, I want them to know how happy I am for them and I have but one more thing to say “Didi, Chris, it’s about damn time.”
posted by BrainHickey | 10:33 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home