Bursting with pride [82/100]

Today, we attended my cousin’s wedding — the reason we made this trip to the East Coast. My daughter Alina was the flower girl. I was worried she would freeze up upon seeing the hundred or so unfamiliar faces and refuse to walk. Or walk down the aisle at a snail’s pace (this happened in one of our practice runs — she meticulously placed individual flower petals in a perfectly straight line).

We watched several youtube videos, pre-screened for what I would consider to be model flower-girl behavior. A lot of videos of kids gain popularity because the kid does something wildly inappropriate.

I hung out with her and the wedding party outside the door, and the event coordinator opened the door. The bridesmaids all entered one by one, and then it was just Alina and the bride and her dad. The band’s music changed, and in she went. “Walk to the white aisle and throw your petals, daddy will be waiting in the front,” I whispered in her ear. “Ok,” and in she went.

I asked her afterwards if she was a little bit scared, and she said she was. Tyler chimed in and said, well that’s bravery, to do something you’re a little bit scared of doing.

She still pretty much tossed the flowers one by one, but kept up a pretty steady clip. Even my Asian parents told her she did such a good job.

After her job was done, she partied hard on the dance floor. Tyler and I are very confused about where that comes from.