Pink And White And...

... a very young bride.

If these silly-sweet pictures of Kathleen don't quite match the silly-sweet ones you've seen of her wedding. That's because these are from her other wedding. The first one.

Mom made the dress. And the pink sash. And I posed in funny pictures with her. And our dad walked her down the aisle. It was a garden wedding with pink roses, a buffet with pink shrimp and it was very picturesque. And pink.

When Kathleen told me and mom she was getting divorced two years later, it was in the food court at the mall. Mom cried over her Sbarros cheese pizza. Kathleen, in her Kathleen-logic was like "I'm either getting divorced or getting a tattoo." I told her to get the divorce. I have always been dead-set against Kathleen getting a tattoo.

We all really liked Kathleen's other husband a lot. He was very sweet and funny and owned his own record store. And they both rode scooters and had a cute little dog named, Go-Go (the name came from Kill Bill). Everyone was always surprised that they married young. No shotguns involved, or anything like that. So it seemed almost indie and rebellious that they were playing house. They even bought one.

But once Kathleen decides something. She decides something. (Case in point, she got the tattoo anyway a few years later. Sigh.)

And our mom eventually stopped silently tearing up about it. (The divorce, not the tattoo. Only I still silently tear up about the tattoo.)

Mom is always on our side. Even if our side isn't necessarily black and white. She sticks with us through the grey stuff, and when it comes to us, she usually does it with rose-colored glasses. So, really, we always know whatever we do... it will come out pink.

Happy Valentine's, Mom.

At least they didn't have any kids, right?