Caring

In July of 1999 I got married in Logan,Utah. I would have loved to get married in Italy, but the strict immigration laws of United States made it basically impossible unless Tom and I accepted to stay apart for quite a long time. So we held a reception in Italy that I organized in each and every detail and one in Burley, Idaho, which was completely organized by my (at the time) future mother and sisters in law. I was told, not knowing the American traditions very well, that all I had to do was choosing colors and bridesmaids...fun! Done! Paige was at the top of my list. I wasn't sure how the bridesmaids deal worked, but I knew that if I had to choose three special girls to be with me that day, Paige had to be one of them for sure. A little naive about the distance, I asked her to come and she immediately was so excited about it. Still today I'm so grateful to Diane and Kirk for coming all the way there! As I said, I had no idea of how anything was going to look like...not even the bridesmaids dresses.Since I was still living in Italy I didn't get to choose the fabric, nor the model of the dresses...so I got to see everything the same day the reception was held and...well...let's say I wasn't exactly happy with the results (very very very grateful, but you know how brides are...) Paige tried the dress on few hours before the reception as well and,like on the other two girls, the dress just didn't look very good...they all looked as if they had a biiiig belly : )
Needless to say that made me a little ( a lot) nervous...my bridesmaids didn't look happy. I walked to Paige and using my broken English I said : " Paige...I'm so sorry...I had no idea it would look like this...I didn't choose the fabric, nor the model..." and I kept trying to hold my tears back while apologizing about the situation.
Paige looked at me, smiled as she always used to do, than looked at the unmerciful pleats on the dress and gently tried to flatten them down. She looked back at me still smiling and she said : "No, no,no...It looks good..see? It looks good, don't worry about it! I'm fine"...She was lying. She was trying to make me feel better. But she was right. She did look good. She looked better than anybody else in the line. She was beautiful wearing her own wonderful smile and her big friendly heart hidden by that uncomfortable dress.
Thank you Paige!