April 18

How Sweet It Is
It's amazing what can happen in a couple of days. As Patrick was getting better, my sister, "The Bride" became ill. On Monday, she was actually hospitalized because she had this pain near her stomach. I can't even imagine how you handle the week of your wedding in the hospital. On Wednesday, she had surgery because their was a mass of blood the size of a grapefruit. So they removed her ovary and the excruciating pain was gone. Finally, she was able to focus on her wedding.

Family began arriving on Thursday and we were so pleased because they helped so much. Everyone was willing to do anything to assist my sister. And I wasn't afraid to ask for help. My husband, Greg, actually picked her up from the hospital because my sister wanted all plans to continue and we all had some type of appointment to get ready for the big day. So Greg willingly went to get his favorite sister-in-law. She wanted her "Dream Day" more than ever, and a "little" surgery wasn't going to stop her. She insisted that she was going to get married on Saturday. The groom said he'd marry her on Saturday; even in the hospital.

Any whoo, she managed to get to rehearsal, but she was very weak. I was worried about my big sis. Maybe the wedding should have been delayed. She was moving very slow; slower than a turtle. But she insisted that everything go according to plan. So we had a shorter version of the rehearsal, then headed towards my brother's house for the rehearsal dinner. I actually made the Italian feast along with my aunts and my Mia. Oh was it so tasty and everyone had a great time. It was such a relief to see everyone relaxing and having a great time. After the week we had, I actually kicked back myself. Thank goodness family wanted to hold Patrick. It gave me a much needed breather and Patrick was able to get plenty of squeezes and a few red lipstick marks on his face.