I remember walking down Figueroa teasing Brian with Mangs about his late night IM and phone conversations with a girl who I had never met, and who I would later learn would be, a very, very special lady.

This is really him talking to Lindsay!

I met Lindsay Keefer the following summer, at a quaint Uncle Sam’s in Arizona. Her radiant personality and inquisitiveness grabbed my attention right away. Lindsay is the kind of person whose curiosity is unending, and whose love for life is worn on the outside. I discovered this all immediately, the very first time we met.

After we left the restaurant I told Brian how lucky he was to have her, and all he could say was, “I know…” - You could hear the humbleness in his voice just as you can see the cherry-red blush that fades up over a cartoon character’s cheeks.

In just a moment, I will board a plane to witness the union of two people who I’ve known to be in love for a very long time. The anticipation I’ve had for this weekend is really unexplainable. It’s been given a lot of time to manifest. It’s a special kind of love, the kind that lasts forever. Don’t think I make statements like that flippantly. I really mean it.

Arrival

I’m at the Hotel Valley Ho walking to my room. I see Brian coming towards me, alone. I get butterflies in my stomach like he’s a celebrity. It’s not so often you get quality time with the groom. He doesn’t even have an entourage of family or wedding planners following him! How is this possible!?

He asks me the favor of staying in my room the night before the wedding.
I humbly oblige, giddy that I get to contribute to wedding tradition.
Now *I’m* the one with cherry-red on my cheeks.

Rooftop Gathering

It’s comforting to see everyone I’ve known from all different walks of Brian & Lindsay’s life in one place. I enjoy conversation with people I haven’t met, the guys I partied with the weekend before, and also Brian’s next-of-kin Becca. I confess to her how the music she’s passed on to Brian acted as a soundtrack for a good portion of our college lives. Ah, the sweet gift of music… Overall everyone was just brimming with happiness. You could smell it in the air.

Karaoke

Meredith Brooks – Bitch. ‘Nuff said.

Daily Dose

I wake up fortunate enough to join Brian and his brothers and sisters for breakfast at a local restaurant called the Daily Dose. We converse about intentional spelling errors on menus (and whether it’s effort for “cuteness” is worthwhile), the transference of Brian’s wedding vows to a proper form of paper from the Yahoo Mail printout upon which it currently exists, and the vagaries of barfing. I’ve always enjoyed being with Brian in the company of his siblings, even though their visits to LA could only be few and far between. Andrew and Courtney, Elisha and Becca, my heart goes out to you :)

Old Town Scottsdale

Brian and I take a walk down some stores along the main road leading out from the hotel. We make jokes about how comically similar all the stores are to each other within the 3 blocks we walk (mostly jewelry, knick-knacks and an assortment of paddy-whacks). We enter a book store very quickly realizing it’s a civil war era bookstore and leave as quickly as we came.

Poolside

The water is ice cold. Sometimes you just have to go for it though, knowing that your friends are waiting for you in the hot tub five yards away. We casually and relaxingly await the events of the night. We can even see the bride and groom walk down from separate rooms, getting ready.

Ceremony

It was beautiful in the twilight of the day.
I’ll admit, it was hard to refrain from tearing up.

Dinner Reception

I took over to a certain degree, a Polaroid scrapbook area. People filed in taking pictures and writing entries – perfectly interactive and fun to do as a gift for the newlyweds. I bump into Kelly Devereaux, and reminisced about music I had passed on to her… Ah, the sweet gift of music…

When dinner started I took great pride in re-lighting candles by hand, floating in glass vases. Brian’s brother Andrew got up to say a few words as Best Man, exclaiming how lucky he was to have her, knowing that upon first meeting. (hey, I thought the same thing eight years ago, when I met her too! High Five!) Elaine, Lindsay’s maid-of-honor also said a few words, reminiscing about late night IM conversations (deja-vu!) and it was all too perfect.

The circle had completed.

Two glasses of wine and a fine piece of chicken later, I was dancing the night away…