For Fiona- On Your Wedding Day

 

A little while ago it became increasingly clear that my sister deeply wanted to marry her boyfriend, and it was just as clear that he deeply wanted to marry her. I received a call from Harry, asking for my blessing, and telling me how much he loves my little-big sister. 

I, being me, asked if I could say something at the wedding. 

So this is what I wrote, and read, on the 30th October 2021:

she is sitting across the table from me, hair bounced over her shoulders, her feet tucked under her legs, the chair pulled in close.

she is drinking cold tea left on a coaster, carefully made, ignored, & then remembered. 

she is jumping up & down in the corner of her room, an indication that she’s excited about something, has too much energy. 

she is that game we played at the piano, teacher & student, that Gordon’s bottle, our secret prop, tucked away in its pretty box.

she is quoting films she doesn’t remember the lines to. she is singing songs she doesn’t know the lyrics to. she is cries of “oh it doesn’t even matter ellen!”

she is the rattle of her door as it opens, with whatever ornament is dangling off that hook. she is slippers left in every room of the house. she is standing on the things on my carpet.

she is laughter from a late night phone call, the palatal d in ridiculous, she is the music blaring from the end of the house. 

she is a storm that blazes into my room, leaves destruction in its wake, but remembers to check itself out in the mirror, before hurtling off somewhere else. 

she is voice messages recorded between bites of an apple, she is videos of an outfit undecided, she is the forward bob of her head as she strides beside me.

she is a best friend, an advisor, a teammate. music lover, terrible reader. a passion for people, food, & photographs. a country girl, accidentally funny, effortlessly beautiful. 

she is all of that, bundled into a tiny parcel wrapped with brown paper packaging & tied with string. 

now she is more than a she. she is a we.

she is a we, we are yet to meet. a we, we are here to celebrate. she has a harry.

he is a brother, a son, a new kind of best friend. he is caring for her, laughing with her. her atlas, her dictionary, a new person to ask for advice. he is a he I am proud to share her with. 

now she is a we.

she is a we on whats app, on instagram, a catch up with a friend who asks how she is. 

well, I reply, she is a we.

- for Fiona, and Harry, on your wedding day.

Lots of love, Ellen Victoria.