Memories in the Mail

My aunt sent me some photos of a wedding I was in nearly 25 years ago.  Believe it or not, I don't recall ever seeing these photos before.  The bride was my cousin, Cindy, and I have not seen or talked to her since the wedding.  I don't know why.  Cindy and her new husband moved away a few months later, and she has since cut all ties with our family.  We were not really close, but I always wanted to be.  She's a pretty cool person, and I always looked up to her.  I'm sad that she has decided to go her own way, but I respect her decision.  I did email her a couple years ago, when a favorite aunt was dying, but she never responded directly to me.  She did post a rather rude badge to her blog, something about flying monkeys, and I realized then that whatever caused her to walk away from our family had created a wound so deep, it will never heal.  I haven't read her blog since that favorite aunt died, but I think about Cindy all the time. The sad part is, we have so much in common.  If we didn't share DNA, if we met at work or through mutual friends, I'm pretty sure we'd have been great friends.  My door will always be open to Cindy, but I know she will never walk through it.

A red dress for a Valentine's wedding ~

My partner.  I don't remember his name, but I know he was the groom's brother.  This was taken at the end of the night, and I was pretty darn tired of getting my photo taken.