April ‘Showers’ bring May flowers…AND BRIDES!!! Saturday, May 9th, finally arrived. My good friend Renee’s daughter got married today, and with it, another of life’s ‘milestones’. It is hard to remember the awkward, young, teenie tween when you see the beautiful bride that she has become.

When Sherry was in high school she helped me finish a huge cross stitch project (Heartstrings Twelve Days of Christmas). She even helped care for the boys once or twice too, as I recall. Now, she’s all grown-up, complete with Master’s degree in hand, full-time job, first ‘home’ (renting a duplex) and we’re watching her walk down the aisle to become a wife.

The tightness in my chest just doesn’t seem to want to subside. I know that in a few years I’ll be there, where Renee’ is today, though with a son. Untying those apron strings and letting go. Not just off to college. Not just starting a ‘real’ job. But starting a ‘life‘.

We’ve had son’s of close friends walk down the aisle, but somehow with a daughter it’s different. It’s just different.

I have long loved God’s beautiful butterflies. Nothing embodies the change we go through in life more appropriately than the metamorphis of a butterfly. The experience in it’s change from an earth bound caterpillar to that of a lovely, lighter than air, beauty of the wing.

Many years ago my boys and I discovered a Monarch cocoon and brought it inside by a sunny window to wait for the day it would unfurl it’s beautiful, multi-colored wings. We had a butterfly house all ready for our first occupant and every day they would run past the table to see how it’d changed over the night. Then one morning it got really dark looking and they even thought it had died. But, then they noticed they could see specks of color here and there and knew that it would be soon. Sure enough later that evening it pryed itself out of the remaining membrane that was left of it’s cocoon and flew to the opposite side of the butterfly house.

It was difficult for them to understand that we could not keep it captive or else it would perish. It needed to fly to strengthen itself. Finally convinced that it would be OK we let it loose, off of our back deck, amisdt lots of giggles and oohs and aahhs. It flew off to another life.

There will be many oohs and aahhs as Sherry walks down the aisle and she flys off to another life. She is loved very much by mom, dad, family and friends, as I’m sure is her husband. We wish them the very best that the Lord has in store for them and hope that their new life together will be a blessed one. I hope yours is too, a blessed life, I know we are very blessed having friends like Sherry’s Mom and Dad and family in our lives.

Thanks, Katherine

Card Details:

Cardstock: Whisper White
Stamp Set: Oval All from the So Shelli Limited Edition Collection
Ink: Encore! Silver
Embellishments: 1/4″ White Grosgrain, Scallop Oval Punch, Medium Oval Punch, Sizzix Big Shot Backgrounds I Texture Plate, Classy Bras DOTS Template, SU Exclusive Sizzix Beautiful Butterflies Die.