I never really appreciated seeing my family as much as I do now, but I learned the value of family in the seventh grade. When my brother got married, he chose me to be his best man. All my family was going to be at this wedding. Wow, Me? Best man? I think this is going to be sweet! But probably nerve wracking. I couldn’t wait to see my family. The value of family can never be replaced by anything; there is nothing closer than family. I really think this wedding really made me become grateful for the family that I have, because I know I don’t get to see them often. Now, when my family comes to visit, I really take the opportunity into account. I really try and spend as much time with them as I can. This wedding made me grow up a lot, it taught me the value of family and friends, and it helped me have better relationships with them. Every time I visit or they come here, I take as much time out of my day to spend time with them, I try to enjoy them as much as possible, and make their trip worth it. Before this wedding, I was not grateful for the amazing family that I have, but after I really began to appreciate the time I spend with them.
“Bye, I’ll miss you!” I yelled, as we pulled out of Dallas in our car. The wedding was all over. As amazing as it was, it still gave me a depressing feeling as I left my family. I knew that I wasn’t going to see them for another while. I kept going over all the fun I had over this weekend. I thought about spending time with my family, I decide that was probably my favorite part. Later when I got home it hit me, it hit me like a brick wall, I realized that I wasn’t going to see my family for a while and it made me sad. All in all it was a great weekend, filled with joy and excitement and plenty of tears from my mother. My brother and I had a good relationship before, but now it was a whole magnitude better. He now looked at me as a brother and not just a little brother, which in a sense made me feel older than I was. Our relationship grew so much stronger; it made me feel like I could talk to him about anything at any time. Now, we call each other regularly and just talk about how everything is going.
On the long car ride home I started to reminisce about everything that went on this past weekend. I started thinking about everything, first I thought about what I enjoyed the most, and quite frankly I enjoyed all of it. I especially loved the rehearsal dinner; it was at a Mexican restaurant that was owned by one of the bridesmaid’s families. We crowded around in the restaurant like a mob that was invading. After settling down, my brother came to me with a gift in his hands. He handed over the bag and I saw something shiny. I was getting excited, because I love to open gifts. It looked like something nice but I wasn’t sure. I finally pulled it out of the bag. It was a pocket watch and a neat pair of socks with “best man” embroidered on them. The pocket watch was very meaningful to me; it had my brother and his wife’s name engraved in it, and it was my first pocket watch. I had always really wanted a pocket watch; I knew that some old and wise people had them, so it made me feel mature. I have always looked up to my dad as someone wise and he had a pocket watch, so just having one made me feel good.
I started to recall the wedding, and I began thinking about it. I couldn’t believe that it was over. All the preparation was well worth it; the wedding was flawless for the most part. I had to bear the rings, which I was nervous about, but it all turned out fine. The only thing I was extremely nervous about was my speech. I had spent a lot of time on my speech. The day I knew I was the best man I started writing it, the speech was about a page long. I had put a lot of work into it so I was hoping that it would be awesome. After all of the wedding and marriage part, everybody went to the dining hall. It was time for my speech along with the bridesmaid’s speech. She wanted me to go first, but that is the last thing I wanted to do. AHH! My heart is beating so fast. I am nervous. What if I mess up? So many people. AHH! After getting a little portion of the butterflies out I picked up the glass of champagne and clanged it with a spoon. I had always wanted to do that for a big group of people. Everyone quieted down and stared at me. I was still nervous but I went for it. I read my speech without flaw, and it was great. Everyone clapped at the end, and my brother was in tears. He walked over to me and gave me a hug. Then after that we had a glass of the nasty champagne. It was one of the worst liquids of all time. I was happy that I nailed my speech, but it was time for one more surprise. All the groomsmen and I snuck out of the house to decorate my brother’s car. We had toilet paper and shoe polish, to write on the windows. It was a lot of fun; his car was filled with white toilet paper that swayed in the wind, his windows had white letters all over them. After that we ran back to throw rose petals all over my brother and his wife. After that everybody sat and talked, but I had to leave early because I had a baseball game back in Houston. “Bye, I’ll miss you!” I yelled, as we pulled out of Dallas in our car. The wedding was all over.
This wedding taught me to appreciate my family a lot more than I did. They really bring out the best in me. They influence me in so many positive ways. I use to take them for granted but now I really know how much they mean to me. I really matured a lot in just one weekend, and I also had a lot of fun. It didn’t seem right that I was in the seventh grade, I felt older. It was a good feeling, and I hope to keep maturing until I am old and wise.