Wedding Thoughts

In no particular order, (because thoughts aren't orderly by nature. At least blonde thoughts aren't. They jump; hither and yon,) these are my thoughts regarding weddings.

• I have a daughter. Exclamation points x 1 million.

• Although, the wedding was anti-climatic in that regard. I felt like she was 'my' daughter long before Drew even asked her to marry him. I've loved her for years, but she really felt like family the day after my dad died. She came down to my basement bedroom, hopped on the end of my bed, grabbed a pillow, a blanket and lay there, talking to me, about life (and death) and love and family and boyfriends for hours. Whether Drew married her or not, this precious girl was now part of my life.

• Weddings are stressful. Count on it. Don't assume because you're a master List Maker that you'll be exempt.

• Have friends with pick up trucks. If you don't have any, make some. Now. 

• Try your dress on more than once. Don't rely on the opinion of your mom in a dark kitchen at 11 pm at night after an evening of making pies. She loves you and thinks you're beautiful regardless. And let's be honest, ANYTHING is going to look decent at that hour. Your second try on should not be 45 minutes before the wedding when you're alone in the house, after the bride, her family and her attendants all leave and it's been your key job all morning to fiddle in the tanks of the two non-functioning toilets on the top floor of the house after each person pees. NOTHING is going to look good at that point. 

• Yes, you should lose weight. Definitely. I can't emphasize this enough. Nothing worse than being the fattest person in the room. So not a cool claim to fame. Just stop being a cow already. 

• Take photos of everything along the way. Everything. This engagement time is special - celebrate each milestone; consulting with the florist, having a test meal with the caterers, making invitations. Don't waste opportunities to capture memories.

• Pray every single day for God's blessing and presence as the Bridal Team (including families and friends) makes decisions and gather together. And pray for The Day. The Wedding Day. That God's will be done. That those who should be at the wedding will be. And those that shouldn't, won't. 

• Your deodorant will probably stop working after about two hours. Have a back up plan.

• If you can only choose one because of time restraints, and your options are; a) go to an appointment to get make up professionally applied to your baggy wrinkled face or b) hang out in your mom's bedroom with the bride and her girls, CHOOSE THE BRIDE. You will not regret it. Even when it's time to dance with your son, the groom, and you have no makeup on, because emotions, you will not regret how you spent that hour that morning.

• Anticipate that hormones as well as emotions are going to rage the week before the wedding. So don't go looking at houses to buy. OR IF YOU DO, have an understanding realtor who hugs you when you start crying on the sidewalk in front of another house that Just. Won't. Do.

• It's going to cost more than you anticipate. 

• It's going to be worth it.

• Feelings will bubble up out of nowhere. Acknowledge them but don't let them ruin the day. Process them later with a friend or six, then make changes according to the things you have control over. The rest? Just let it go. 

• Have friends on standby so that you have someone to talk to after the Wedding Weekend is over. There will be so much to talk about. Like, so much. 

• Save more than two vacation days (one before the wedding and one after the wedding isn't really enough) to use during Wedding Week. 

• Yes, definitely yes, get your face threaded the day before. That way, even if everything goes to sh*t, you at least have a hairless face. 

• Ask the venues you'll be using what happens in the event of a power outage due to the possibility of the tail end of a typhoon sweeping into your region on the day of the wedding. 

• If you are looking for a church facility; I can't say enough good things about the folks at Blue Mountain Baptist.

• If you want a florist who can make your pinterest dreams come true, talk to Alice at Florista. Seriously. That green chandelier? Was amazing and breathtaking. 

• If you have a woodsy theme in mind and stumps are the pillars of choice, give Chad a call. ($200 rental for 10 perfect stumps for the weekend.) 

• Dutchman Catering for the win.

• And our DJ? (Mark from Absolute Entertainment) Kept the dance floor hopping. One danceable song after another. I wasn't convinced we'd need a DJ. I was wrong. 

• It's a little bit lonely being a single at a wedding. If you were thinking about hiring an escort/actor to accompany and adore you all evening, I'd say go for it. 

• Don't underestimate the power of good seating arrangements. Planning in advance as to who'll sit where, has an immediate impact on everyone's enjoyment. Take the time to consider all the possible options. This applies to both the reception and the ceremony. 

• Wedding planners. Who knew? I now have a deep appreciation for what they do. Cheryl was ours. And she rocked the role. Grateful for her wisdom and tireless work. If you have a vision, a wedding planner will see that it's obtained. Thank you Cheryl for making Danica's wedding dreams come true. 

• People are watching. Guests notice things. So behave. Your character is being assessed, so be the best version of yourself. 

• Unless your name is Max O or you have years of experience public speaking spontaneously with success, write some notes/pre-think your speech. And if you're not sure what to say, you can't go wrong being generous with your thanks and your love. 

• Have kleenex on hand. You never know when a kind word or a meaningful song will undo you.

• If the visor on the driver's side of your vehicle breaks and all it does is hang down and obstruct your vision, get it fixed. 

• Start praying for your child's spouse as soon as your kid is born. Pray that God would be at work in your child's and your family's lives, preparing everyone for the one who'll marry in. And pray that God would prepare that girl (and her family) for you all. 

• If you don't particularly like the way the guy who's never done your hair before does it during the practice run through three weeks before the main event, you're likely not going to like it any better on the day of the wedding. And if he says washing your hair on the day of the wedding is not helpful, be insistent that your hair is two days dirty and you will feel better about your head when the curls and bounce inevitably fall out, that at least, AT LEAST, your hair is clean.  

• I can't emphasize enough the importance of having your own support people in place. Maxine. Shelly - thanks for letting me help you make 9 apple pies for the rehearsal dinner. Karm, Sandra and Maxine, thanks for totally managing that rehearsal dinner that was almost needed to be heated up on the BBQ and served by candlelight. Thank you for preparing, serving and cleaning up afterwards. Thank you Adam, Jesse, Rick, John and Brian for moving everything from the ceremony to the reception and setting it all up again. Thank you Rick and Sandra for taking home a load of 'things' after the reception. Thank you Chad for the stumps, candle holders and table numbers. Your help in getting everything to and then from the venues was a Godsend. Your woodsy pieces were perfect. Thank you mom for letting us invade your house; the celebrations were fun because we had a great place to gather, and those Morning of the Wedding pics were magical because your bedroom is a place of beauty. Thank you Heather for talking me off the edge on Friday when the power was out everywhere in my world and for taking Monday off work so I could process the whole thing in detail by talking, crying, laughing. remembering with a friend. Thank you to Ali and Amy who enthusiastically managed the Photo Booth/Guest Book. I love you both. (Thanks, Claire, for lending us the camera.) Thanks to Clint for remaining calm, organized and helpful not only on the day the storms hit, but the following day as well, right til the very end. And lastly, thank you to Max for getting his brother and bride to the airport. Feeling blessed to have y'all in my life. xo

The Drew and Danica Show

Mandi prepared a slide show for Drew and Dani which we watched at the reception.

Wanna see it?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7bN-MdS70eFXzBBZGdEOXpsNmc/view?ts=58093122

THANK YOU AMANDA.
Love how happy this is.
You are awesome.

Love you
xo

FOB Speech

Another speech from the wedding:

Hello. My name is Lorne stapleton. I'm Danica's dad. Today I am the father of the bride and consider it a great honor!

Welcome

Welcome to all of you and thank you so much for being here and helping us to celebrate the marriage of Drew and Danica O. I had no idea the amount of work, planning, time and effort that goes into a wedding and reception. To tell you the truth, I still don't. Not fully anyways. But I do know that it's a ton. And couldn't happen without many people coming together and contributing in some way or another.

I'm not going to try and name everyone. Mostly because I don't want to forget anyone, but also we don't have time enough. Let's just say there were many family members and friends who really came through! So to all of you - a heart felt thank you!

One person went way beyond the expectation of a friend however. And I feel she must have a special thanks from Christine and I. Cheryl has been there right from the beginning and has been an enormous help to Danica with words of wisdom, encouragement and an overall sense of calm which was needed more than once! Thank you!

The last time Cheryl was over Danica gave her a break down of all that needs to be done the morning of the wedding and Cheryl was blown away with Danica's planning, attention to detail and organization. Yes. Cheryl saw a pretty amazing young lady!

Danica

Aaaah. Danica.

Danica is:

Caring, passionate, loving, artistic, giving, creative, to many she is a mentor, an amazing listener, a voice of wisdom. She is immensely creative. She has a love for all things that spring from imagination.

But to me Danica is something way more than a list of positive adjectives. I am after all her father and have been working on a relationship with her for 22 years!

Danica is like a great mystery, a story book that gets better as you read it and pulls you in deeper as you discover all of the character than lies within... As the years go by I feel like I'm learning as much or more from being a part of her life's journey than my own.

Danica I love how you are your own person. You respectfully listen (to understand) other's opinions and then offer up such incredible insight with patient words of wisdom!

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I remember the day you were born and a few of the different emotions I had. When the nurse announced you were a girl I was shocked. I was convinced we were having a son. I literally said are you sure? and did a double take to confirm that we indeed had a daughter!

I have a confession to make here. I was actually concerned about having enough love for Danica because ..... Well ..... You see - I had already given my daddy heart to another. Her name was Austin. And at the time she was two and I loved her so much. How would I possibly be able do THAT for another girl?

Well as every parent learns, I, thankfully, discovered that God has given us the ability to love more than one child!

But who was this new child?

She was Danica and let me tell you - I was to begin a lifetime discovery of just how unique she is! Like when we were watching a movie when she was six and the story had a number of intertwined subplots. Half way through she turns to me and says, oh. I. Know what's going on here! This is going there. And that ones doing this. And in the end it'll be like - that! Right?! Yeah! That's what I thought too!

Or when we were on our way home from a losing soccer game and she was clearly one upset eight year old. I had to push her a bit to find out what was wrong? She went on a rant "if the forwards did this and the mid fields did that and we played defense like so - WE WOULD HAVE WON DAD!! (You're an eight year old girl! Where does this come from?)

When you got older you continued to shine. When you got your first job in a salon that was to eventually close. All of your co workers ended up quitting for one reason or another (no one was getting paid) and you stayed until the very end.

I remember thinking that you should leave too but you persevered and your boss was so grateful for your concern for her and her business and all of your hard work. You stuck it out in such a stressful challenging circumstance and in the end you were rewarded. Your dedication, empathy, hard work and willing to learn (even if IT WAS forced upon you because you were the last one there) it all paid off. It lead you to your new career - with clients in hand - and new employers that were able to pour into your development.

You are always aware of people's needs and have such a giving heart. I love how you pour so much into your relationships and make time to ensure that they remain healthy. I especially appreciate your pursuit of your relationship with God. And your love of movies; regular and animated; more specifically princess movies. Deep down I think you always wanted to be a princess.

Well today, more than ever, you certainly look like one! The Bible tells us that when we accept the gift that God has freely given to us, He makes us His children. We become His sons and daughters. He IS a king. That makes you, what I believed all along, it makes you a legitimate princess!!

Danica those concerns of not having enough love have long since been replaced with admiration, pride and an intense love of you. My girl.

When our girls were young I would occasionally think about their distant future and that one day they would probably be getting married. So as a 'good' father I would send up a prayer for these young men out there that would one day be my sons.

On Danica's 16th birthday I was introduced to a kid named Drew.

"Daddy this is my boyfriend!"

Drew

When I first met Drew, like all great fathers, I was - well - concerned. I mean. We all agreed on 16 years old for dating but I was hoping more for the 30 to 35 year old range. And this young man's style was suspect. What with the pants down here and the under wear hanging out. Cmon man! You're with my Danica. Get those pants up!

Drew's intentions were different than mine. And those differences began my admiration for him.

(As I wrote this and reread it I caught myself getting a lump in my throat and tears in my eye. I tried to tell myself that it was because I was in my woodworking shop and it was probably just some random sawdust in my eyes. Truthfully it was a fact that this young man has grown on me. In a big way!)

His dogged determination to have Danica as his own began, I think, when he was 12 and first asked Danica to be his girlfriend. To which she replied "I'm not allowed to date until I'm 16". This went on every few months until finally she turned 16. But Drew never wavered in his pursuit oh her. I know why I love Danica so much and know that she would be a fine catch MUCH LATER IN LIFE, but how was it possible that this young kid also figured this out? And so early on?!!

I loved the fact that Drew actually seemed to enjoy being around our family. And not just being with Danica. He developed a relationship with each and everyone of us. Hmmm?

After a few years there came some turmoil that I like to refer to as 'the time that Drew put aside to become a man'. He separated with Danica and went on a path to ultimately align his life and set significant goals for what he believed God had designed for him.

(For the record, everyone was broken hearted in our house and I was the sole one explaining that you're a good guy.)

When Drew decided that indeed he and Danica were destined to be together this was the time that my love for Drew grew the most. His steadfast love and determination to make their relationship work knew no bounds. He was willing to do whatever was necessary and believe you me Danica had a few hoops for him to jump through.

I watched proudly as they negotiated a tender time of healing and then worked on a very purposeful path to an amazing relationship. They are way ahead of their years and it is because they didn't run from challenges and pain but rather worked through it, came together and relied on God and their faith in Him to move ahead.

Drew, we've spent our lives raising three daughters to be ladies that I know I would want to spend the rest of my life with. I'm so thankful that God answered my prayer with you. I'm so grateful to Jane and Mark and Sherry for the man that you have raised. He is the product of your love and devotion all of these years. Thank you.

Drew, you truly love Danica with all of your heart. Your humble in your life walk and bless us with knowing that you care for our whole family and genuinely want to be a part of it. You are THE man I would choose for Danica and YOU will always be the first boy that I finally get to call "son.,"

Thank you.

Some advice

Lastly I would offer you two some advise. Not because I think I'm an expert at being married even though today is also our 28th anniversary!!

Lets be serious. The only reasons we've made it this far is God's grace. I'm the poster boy for that, and Christine is an unbelievable wife and the most devoted and loving mother. I'm truly blessed to be married to her for all these years.

We have an amazing teacher that speaks wisdom at our church every Sunday. He is Mark Clark. He is currently doing a marriage series.I truly believe that last week's message, if applied to one's marriage, is some of the most powerful stuff for a great marriage. Mark talked about how women are God's pinnacle of all creation. They are amazing at all things and are able to juggle so many roles and responsibilities to making a home and family be successful and thriving.

- I see this in my own home with MY wife and daughters. - I see it in my workplace where there are so many great women who balance successful careers and their families as well.

- Drew you've got one of these kinds of women in Danica so....my advice to you is this:

Drew: love Danica with all of your heart. Every day. Good times and bad. Make it a game with yourself to find new ways to show her love daily. Create ways to love her when she's down or not on her A game. Be loving in the small stuff. Appreciate what she brings to the relationship and give it right back to her.

Danica: respect Drew. He's a man. We thrive on the praises of our ladies. We remember the compliments they gave on a shirt we worn every time we wear it after. We get filled with confidence and self worth when you tell us that you believe in us and our efforts. Pour into Drew all of what you see in him. Let him know every day why you chose him and believe he is worth you working so hard for. When you two do this for each other you life will continue to grow. And that is amazing. Look at all that you are starting off with!! Imagine it being even better and it will!

A toast

Would you all join me and stand. A toast to a life of happiness, adventure and love!!

To Drew and Danica!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#5 - Love & Respect from Village Church on Vimeo.

The rest of the "Til Death Do Us Part" sermon series can be found here:

http://www.thisisvillagechurch.com/our-media/sermons/#series-sort_till-death-do-us-part

MOG Speech

First of all, before I go on and on about Drew and Danica, I just want to thank you for being here. Thank you for loving and encouraging Drew and Dani as they take this next step in their relationship. Thank you for praying and coming alongside. The people in this room have been handpicked by D + D (or D2 as I refer to them in print) for a reason. They love you. Thank you for loving them back.

AND WOW. It takes an army to get a wedding put together. Special thanks to the team who set up this room this morning. Cheryl, Paul, Alice, Taryn, Isaac, Holly and Cole. You are all rock stars. Thank you for sacrificing your time this morning. This room? Looks magical.

AND THANK YOU CHAD ROBERTS FOR ALL THE STUMPS, candle holders and wood pieces. You are amazing.

Thanks for the hardworking bridesmaids who kept Dani sane and hydrated through these past 10 months. I've admired your relationships over the years and I'm glad Danica has y'all in her life.

Thanks to Drew's groomsmen for doing what you do. I'm not totally sure how you guys have shown support, but I'm glad you're here and I'm grateful that Drew has all of you in his life.

Thanks to my mom for opening her home up, over and over, to me, my kids, their friends. Thanks, mom, for hosting all the big events, from the engagement party to the rehearsal dinner to the dressing of the bride this morning.

And special thanks to my friends who got me to this place, today. Haha. It's takes a lot of caring folk to help a Mother Of The Groom get her act together. From cooking, baking, setting up, and serving last night's rehearsal dinner to volunteering to help move things from there to here, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart. I owe you all big time. Now that I know what weddings are all about, I'll try harder to be more than The Friend With The Camera.

I love being a mom.

I love Drew.

And I love being Drew’s mom.
And I love Danica.

And I have had the most fun watching their relationship unfold.

From those early days when she turned 16 and he was a nervous lad planning on asking her to be his girlfriend, to evenings in Murrayville when they'd snuggle on the world's ugliest couch watching TV, to those evenings they sat at my table making things, to our Canuck's dates, to me chauffeuring them up and down the mountain so they could snowboard and then kiss noisily in my backseat... I have loved every minute.

But before there was a Drew And Danica, there was a Drew. Who like his brothers, it was my great joy to parent. And who, like his brothers, was the subject of many blog posts:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Oh my goodness, Poor Drew.

There I sat on my kitchen floor with my head under the sink looking for the blasted button to restart my broken garburator which has my drain smelling like someone took a crap in it.

I’ve been holding it all in for a few days… and I couldn’t contain the flood any longer.

“Are you crying mom?” he asked.

“Uh huh.”

“Why are you sad?” he wondered.

“It’s not just one thing. It’s a couple.” I replied.

“Can I do something?” he offered.

“Just help me with these dishes and I’ll be fine.”

“Would you rather wash or dry?” I asked as I filled up the sink.

“Dry. Definitely.”

So with my hands in hot soapy water, I just let the tears flow as Drew chatted about things he did the past few days.

Drew’s gentle smile has an uncanny way of restoring light to a gloomy day.

He was supposed to be at my mom’s place for night tonight. But an unexpected invitation to spend tomorrow at a friend’s house has him right where I need him.

“Hey, look mom,” he said as we stood side by side at the sink. “It’s a full moon tonight. Your favourite. You should go outside for a few minutes and just look at it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(The night before I started a new job)

Sunday night I was in bed by 11:30pm determined to fall asleep immediately, regardless of the number of laps my circling thoughts were doing in my head.

“Mom?” Drew whispers. “I can’t sleep.”

“Do you wanna snuggle in with me?”

“Can I?”

“Yes. But you havta fall asleep right away…”

He runs back to his room to get his fan, his glass of water, his favourite pillow. He settles in right beside me and wants to talk.

“Is it OK if I ask you a few questions?”

Knowing he will not fall asleep with questions burning in his mind, I said, “OK. Just a few.”

“What happens if I get sick? If you have a job, who will look after me?”

“I will. I’ll tell them I have to stay with you. But let’s try and stay real healthy for the next couple of weeks, OK?”

“Can you scratch my back?”

While I’m lazily scratching, he asks, “If we get a really big bill, and we don’t have the money to pay for it, will we go on welfare?”

“No. We won’t.”

“Will nan and bups pay it for us?”

"No, I’ve arranged to borrow money from the bank.”

“The bank? How can you pay that back? What happens if you die? Then me and my brothers have to pay them back?”

“I will pay it back. Every month a little bit will get paid off. I’m not dying.”

My arm is tired so I’ve stopped scratching, and I’ve rolled over onto my other side.

“Mom? Can’t you turn this way? I like to see your beautiful face.”

I heave myself back onto my right side and he interlocks his fingers with mine.

“The hairs are starting to grow back, aren’t they?” he observes as he touches my forearm. “Is your chin still all bumpy?”

“No, it’s getting better. Can you go to sleep now?”

“Mom? What are you going to do at your job tomorrow? Can I ever come and see you there? What happens if Mrs. Rubuliak is late in the morning? Are you going to go to work and leave me home by myself? What time are you going to pick me up after school? Everything’s going to be different, isn’t it?”

Clearly he was no where near falling asleep… his mind was on overdrive, just like mine. Even though his eyes are wide open, he is quiet for awhile. Then he speaks again.

“Wow. That must’ve been, like 10 minutes. Don’t think I’ve ever prayed that long before.”

Finally, at 1:00 am he drifts off sharing my pillow and snuggled up close, leaving me to obsess by myself.

At 1:30am Max wanders in. “Mom? You still awake?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have any Tums?”

“Have you slept yet?”

"No. Can’t.”

We both go into my bathroom, chatting while we look for some antacids.

He heads back to his room, and as I slip back into my ridiculously creaky bed, Drew wakes. “What did Max want? Is he OK? Is he worried too?”

“He’s fine, go back to sleep.”

“Are you driving Clint to school?”

“Not now. I’ll do in a few hours. Maybe after we’ve all slept.”

“Don’t leave me home by myself. Make sure you wake me up and take me along.”

“OK. G’nite.”

I lay there for another hour. Worrying. Praying. Wishing I were different. Hoping I can somehow be a decent mom as well as a worthy employee.

I must have fallen asleep around 3:00, cuz Drew woke me up.

“Mom? Maybe you should roll over the other way now. You are starting to snore and your breath stinks.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Not the girls.”

I was wondering when it would happen.

Clint stopped in grade 2. Max in grade 4. Drew is in grade 5 and this is the year.

“I’ll give Valentine’s to the guys only.”

With his class list before him, he personalized the SpongeBob Valentines, crossing out some words and adding others.

“How should I attach the Smartie packages?” he wondered.

“How about using the hot glue gun?” I suggested.

Looking forward to squeezing a trigger, he plugged it in and waited for it to heat up.

The cord wasn’t long enough to reach the table, so he set up a chair as his workspace. But there was a lamp’s cord criss crossing the chair, and he’s left handed, and there were 20 cards and boxes to attach to each other, and he looked overwhelmed. So I handed him one set to glue first.

“Oh! Could this be a teamwork thing, mom?”

“Sure.”

“OK. That’s good. Some things just work out better when you work as a team and cooperate with each other.”

“That’s true.”

He picks up his weapon, squeezes the trigger and a blob of hot glue lands on the Smartie box. As he presses the box onto the card, covering up SpongeBob's square pants, he continues “Have you tried something like this at work? You know, the teamwork approach? Maybe you want to tell everyone about it…It might just make things easier for you all.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drew is who he is because he’s had a squad of people shaping him into the friendly, caring, sensitive, wise, man he’s become.

Thank you Kevin Snyder for being our friend for forever. You called the morning of 911 to see how Drew was processing the news. Your open door policy when you were living in the barn at the farm was appreciated and probably abused by a little guy who loved hanging out with you. Thank you for sharing your life, for being our personal pastor, and for marrying my boy to his girl today.

Thank you Dave Hiebert for teaching Drew how to weld. Those evenings in your garage had a lasting effect on him. You took time, each week, to get to know my boy. You encouraged him, taught him some manly garage skills and have been a encouraging him to get married for years. Thank you.

Thank you Mandi Koop. When I was going through photo albums looking for pictures for the slide show, I was reminded again, how much time you and Drew spent together. You have been a good friend, a loving cousin, a prayer warrior and a great supporter of his relationship with Dani. Thank you for being his friend.

Clint and Max. Your little brother has been the recipient of your abuse, your teasing, your sarcasm, your love, your support, your guidance, your friendship, your sense of humor. I remember, when Drew was 13 or 14, realizing that my influence was being overshadowed by yours. He watched and learned and tried to keep up with you his whole life. And you both were brilliant at taking him along for the ride. You were generous in sharing your lives with him; so much so that the years between you blurred as he considered your friends his friends. Thank you for help in forming him into the man he’s become.

My dad; Bups. He would be so very proud of Drew today. He loved all his grandkids with abandon, but he probably logged in the most time with Drew. They would have overnighters, sleeping together on the floor in the family room, watching TV, eating junk food, most weekends. Their relationship wasn’t a typical grandpa/grandson relationship; it was so much deeper. Drew’s life had stability and joy and outrageous adventures because Bups was in it.

Thank you Mark and Sherry for providing him with a home where he was loved unconditionally. He grew up benefitting from having two homes; thank you for sharing the work and the joy of raising him.

I have been praying for Drew’s wife and her family for 22 years, not knowing who they’d be. Turns out, it was the Stapletons.

THANKYOU, THANK YOU, Lorne and Christine. Christine, my kid has eaten your food, sat at your table, taken a spot on your couch for years and years. Thank you for opening your home and your heart to him. And Lorne? Oh my goodness, you have gone above and beyond in showing affection to Drew. He has won the Father-In-Law lottery with you and has learned so much from you because of your patience, your wisdom, your acceptance, your conversations, your sensitivity, your love. Thank you. A million times, thank you. Thank you for loving him.

And Danica. Danica you are precious and strong and principled and talented and creative and wise and fearless and positive and faith-filled and beautiful and loving and gentle and warm and you love Jesus. Drew is a better person because you love him.

Welcome into my family, Danica. You are my daughter, a treasured gift from God and you are my friend. I love you.