Some things you can just never take back

A little piece of history....

My wedding invitation circa 2004

Return to Sender. Postmarked June 14 2004. There is a second postmark on the back-from a second attempted delivery on August 2, 2004.

10 years ago my dad & his wife chose to NOT attend my wedding. His first born and first wedding in our family. I walked myself down the aisle.

Our photographer captured the moment that I realized that I was being lied to. When my uncle got up to read a poem my dad had sent "from Afghanistan". Behind my uncle is where my sisters were sitting with the MOST uncomfortable looks on their faces. I instantly started to cry and the photographer thought he was capturing a tender moment. Mike felt HORRIBLE that I was living this moment and he started to cry too. Thus the 2nd picture. I look at these pictures and those are the memories that were captured...forever. My suspicions confirmed directly after when I confronted my sisters and all they could say was "sorry".

Yesterday those same people made sure that 10 years ago was the last time THIS kind of picture would ever be captured at a sibling wedding again. So sad. The path of destruction caused since the day Dad & Kathleen decided to have an affair in turn destroying 2 marriages and 2 families-has caused & obviously continues to leave a plethora of chaos and agony in its wake.

I hope the memories that were made at my baby sisters wedding yesterday were wonderful. The choice to not invite anyone but my dad, is one she will live with for the rest of her life. The choice to purposely make sure that others were aware that under no circumstance were Mom, Hollie or I to know when or where the wedding was to take place, so there was no chance of us coming, is just disgusting. Who would EVER advise someone to do that? No one with character-and no one I want to associate with. Who wins in situations like this? Nobody. Just like the hurt my dad caused by deciding to be deceitful a decade ago. Hopefully having the wedding of her dreams paid for by people who would influence such atrocity was a price that was worth it for the relationships she has forever broken. 

Choices. 

It's what life is all about. 

I will miss my sister. I wish her the best as she continues in her new life. Through pregnancies that will come, and babies, to birthdays and holidays-she will be on my mind but not in my life. It is sad that she has chosen to not know my children or continue the sisterhood that we were born into, but that is the person she has become, surrounded by those who lack integrity. 

It is just sad. 

One day when my children are older and ask why they don't know the girl on the right in this picture, or who my dad is-I will explain it to them. For now-with broken hearts, we start a new chapter and move on.