My brother called me in September to have me drive to Bozeman to help him prepare to sell his house. He and his fiancé sat down with me at dinner when I got there and asked me to be his best man. I was stunned. I was always under the impression that this would be the job of his best friend. I accepted the offer without a moment of hesitation.
Being the procrastinator that I am, I let month after month go by without writing my toast, a personal quality I definitely learned from growing up with my brother. Fall faded into winter, winter into spring, and the wedding grew closer every day. Finally on the day of the wedding, after finally coming up with a written speech, I stood at the dinner table. With my brother and brand new sister in law by my side, I gather the attention of the people in the barn.
“Excuse me! . . . Thank you. First of all I would like to thank everyone who came to witness this special event. Second, I would also like to thank everyone who has helped us out this week. Between preparing for the wedding and hosting the rehearsal dinner, we really couldn’t have done this without you.
“Now let me focus my attention to the reason we are here today. Growing up with my brother and sharing a room with him definitely let me get close to him and see who he really is. He was always the big brother I looked up to and I was always the little brother that annoyed him. I always wanted to be right by his side, to the extent of even hiding in his car once when he and a friend had to go downtown.
“I got to watch him grow up. I knew exactly what he was going for in life: the career, life, and even the kind of wife he searched for. The very first time I had ever spoken to Jen was on a winter night on the phone. She shared with me a story, a story that had happened earlier that day which had my brother written all over it.
“I could hear a slightly nervous tone in her voice as she continued to tell the story. He is not a great skier by any means. He fell into the snow well of a tree after barely landing a jump. She told me her and the two boys with them decided to laugh to the point of crying instead of skiing down the get him. It was with this five minute conversation [tears starting to fill my eyes] that I knew she was the one for my brother.”
Looking at my brother, tears welling in their eyes, I shook nervously as I picked up the glass of champagne. Without taking my eyes off my brother and sister in law, I held up my glass in the air and closed with, “To the bride and groom, may their love be everlasting. I wish to you a world of happiness.”
Being the procrastinator that I am, I let month after month go by without writing my toast, a personal quality I definitely learned from growing up with my brother. Fall faded into winter, winter into spring, and the wedding grew closer every day. Finally on the day of the wedding, after finally coming up with a written speech, I stood at the dinner table. With my brother and brand new sister in law by my side, I gather the attention of the people in the barn.
“Excuse me! . . . Thank you. First of all I would like to thank everyone who came to witness this special event. Second, I would also like to thank everyone who has helped us out this week. Between preparing for the wedding and hosting the rehearsal dinner, we really couldn’t have done this without you.
“Now let me focus my attention to the reason we are here today. Growing up with my brother and sharing a room with him definitely let me get close to him and see who he really is. He was always the big brother I looked up to and I was always the little brother that annoyed him. I always wanted to be right by his side, to the extent of even hiding in his car once when he and a friend had to go downtown.
“I got to watch him grow up. I knew exactly what he was going for in life: the career, life, and even the kind of wife he searched for. The very first time I had ever spoken to Jen was on a winter night on the phone. She shared with me a story, a story that had happened earlier that day which had my brother written all over it.
“I could hear a slightly nervous tone in her voice as she continued to tell the story. He is not a great skier by any means. He fell into the snow well of a tree after barely landing a jump. She told me her and the two boys with them decided to laugh to the point of crying instead of skiing down the get him. It was with this five minute conversation [tears starting to fill my eyes] that I knew she was the one for my brother.”
Looking at my brother, tears welling in their eyes, I shook nervously as I picked up the glass of champagne. Without taking my eyes off my brother and sister in law, I held up my glass in the air and closed with, “To the bride and groom, may their love be everlasting. I wish to you a world of happiness.”