June 14, 2016: Del Rio News-Herald * OPINION * Letter to the Editor * June is delightfully Dad's Day!
Letter to the Editor,
Delightfully Dad’s Day!
It’s 2:00 p.m. and the Cristiano family has punctually
arrived at Holy Family Church for Maria and Mario’s wedding scheduled for 3:00
p.m.
The wedding party has been instructed to wait in the
Parish Hall and the entire Cristiano family congregates there to await their
cue to proceed into the church entrance.
Junior is taking pictures.
Everyone looks picture perfect all dressed up.
Junior walks over to where Dad is standing and then
suddenly blurts out, “What was yours and Mom’s wedding like?”
Dad is momentarily jolted by the question and then a
great big smile forms on his face.
“All that day I kept telling myself, ‘I can’t be late,
I can’t be late.’ Your mom would kill me if I was late. I kept checking the
time all day. I didn’t want to leave the house in case something went wrong
while I was out. My best man was going to come by and pick me up to go to the
church at 2:00 pm. It was 2:00 pm and he didn’t show up. I called him and he
didn’t answer. I got in my car and drove to church. I looked at my watch and it
was 2:30 pm but the church parking lot was empty and I couldn’t figure out what
had happened. I walked to the church and it was empty except for a few people
praying. The church wasn’t decorated. I thought maybe my watch was wrong, was I
too early or was I too late. My heart sank if I was late and everyone went home
because I didn’t show up. Oh no, your poor mother, I thought, she’s never going
to forgive me, she hates me. I rushed out and drove as fast as I could to your
mother’s house. Your TÃo Ricardo answered the door dressed in jeans and a
T-shirt. ‘What about the wedding?’ I anxiously inquired. ‘It’s tomorrow,’ he broke out laughing as I
stood there in my rented tuxedo.
‘Junior, that’s what I’ll always remember; the wedding
the next day was just a great big blur to me, but don’t tell your mother that.’”
Man to man, Junior says, “Don’t worry Dad; your secret
is safe with me.”
June is Father’s Day and the traditional month of
weddings.
Marian Casillas, Ed.D.