when it was time

to get ready for

the wedding.

i’m of course

going tie-less

because i still

don’t know how 

to tie one and

my wife is

no longer here

to curse and assist me.

we took our

seat in the

sun and as the bride

started walking

down the aisle,

maddy started to squirm

and make some noise.

shit.

we retreated and 

i kept one

eye on maddy

and the other on

the wedding. 

i knew that

she

would have been

up there with

the others, 

and i would have

been here doing

what i am doing 

and i kept it together

until i looked

down and noticed 

liz’s

name listed on

the wedding program.

…

after the wedding

maddy took her

mom’s

place in the photo

(as i look at the photo and think about the sentence i just wrote, i figured that someone reading this may take the sentence literally and think that kevin would have been holding liz, but the visual made me laugh out loud so i’m leaving everything as-is).