What I Didn't Say On Your Wedding Day

When I first met Elysse..... where do I even begin? she was this bubbly red head, much like she is now, living at the end of the hallway on floor 11 of Calhoun.

She was loud and friendly and everything my freshman year self wanted no part of, but desperately needed. I had a hard time making girl friends in college, until the day Elysse walked into my life. I prayed and prayed she wouldn’t talk to me, but she did. She invited me into her small 4 x 4 box dorm where she lived by herself and she offered for me to sit on her bed and she sat on her desk chair.

We talked about everything. everything that a college freshman could possibly know or think they know about life. Our past boyfriends, we realized we shared a common crush, his name was Alex and he was running for Calhoun Hall President and we both offered to work on his campaign because we thought he was so cute (he is still in our lives today, shout out to Alex who is currently working out in Guatemala to begin a trade school), we talked about our passions, our hobbies, our families, and the most important part of the conversation to me was when we talked about our values and morals.

I called my mom later that night and I told her I finally met someone in college that has the same values and morals as I do and I said, “I think we are going to be good friends”. Little did I know, in that moment, I would get to do something that some can only dream of. I would stand by her 6 years later on her wedding day. But from that moment on we were inseparable. 

Elysse became a sister to me. But we all know with siblings, relationships aren’t always easy. Our friendship wasn’t always perfect but one of my favorite parts of this whole story, though not an easy part, is she became a sister to my very own sister, sophomore year of college when Nick walked into our lives.

I can’t count the amount of times the three of us all sat around that small Usquare apartment and hashed out Elysse and Nick’s relationship. We would watch her cry and see her heartbroken and we would tell her the old cliche “let him go, he isn’t worth it. If he comes back, it’s meant to be”.

She knew something we didn’t, because she never did let him go and I believe it was always meant to be.

When I realized how serious this was, I figured it was time to get to know Nick for myself and so that’s exactly what I did. What I came to find is that Nick is genuinely good. Not the kind of genuinely good you come by often. When he heard me crying and heartbroken, and Elysse fell asleep, he took her phone and talked to me through the night.

He loves so hard and so well, not just Elysse but also those who love Elysse, and he does it almost effortlessly. Since Elysse can’t be with me, because I’m not her type, there is no one else I’d pick for her other than Nick.

So far in the story, Elysse has cried, I’ve cried, but oh how the tables turned on the day of their wedding when Nick saw Elysse for the first time, a little birdie told me that he cried too.

Elysse and Nick, I cry writing this the same way I’ve been crying since the day nick told me he was going to propose. I am not one who runs out of words often, but you two and your love leave me speechless. I’ll never forget when Elysse told Nick that he is going to be her boyfriend because “it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames”. If you couldn’t tell by now, it’s gonna be forever.

She really locked him in, when 10 minutes before the ceremony she requested that the preacher change “till death do us part” to “forever and ever”.

Congratulations, best wishes, here’s to Elysse and Nick’s forever and EVER!

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