My sister's wedding speech

Well, this is the speech for my sister's wedding:

As I was remarking earlier, you don't see this many friends and family this dressed up except for weddings and funerals, and sometimes a wedding can be a funeral. Not this one of course, haha. When my sister first called me to tell me she was getting married she asked for my thoughts on the subject. My response was to remember the words of our ancestor Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." So, get ready for the ride, because it will be an exciting one no matter what.

When I first met Shaun, he said, "Yeah, the first 3 dates me and your sister went on we had run-ins with the police" My response, "Welcome to the family, this is my type of guy" (As an aside there run-ins were traffic tickets, so no one gets a bad idea of my brother-in-law :) ). Shaun reminds me a lot of my Dad, which is a good thing. I love my Pop and think he's an amazing man. I was telling my brother, Daniel, earlier that our apples fell a little further from the tree than our new brother. If I ever walk in and see a stern look on his face, arms raised high, and a furrowed brow with the expression, "Jesssssica!" then I'll know without a shadow of a doubt that the spirit of my father has officially been transferred. On a serious note, I think Shaun is an absolutely wonderful person. He has great qualities and I know he will make my sister very happy. I look forward to the years ahead getting to know him as our bond grows the way that only time will allow.

Sometimes I am surprised that my sister turned out as well as she did growing up with the brothers that she had. When we were younger, most of the time we forgot she was a girl. It was almost like the commercial that was on TV a couple years ago when a guy would come flying out of nowhere to tackle somebody. Jessica would be walking down the hall and one of us would just tackle her like a linebacker. The one thing that my sister learned was that she had the trump card, DAD. When we pushed her too far, she would sound the siren. It started in a low growl turning into a death defying scream. "DAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!" At this point me and my brother were like cockroaches when the lights turned on. We would look at each other like, "Hide" We would scurry off to somewhere and pretend like we had no knowledge of what was going on.

On a serious note, my sister is an absolute doll. Anyone who has met her has been touched in a positive way. She has amazing qualities. She is beautiful, strong, independent, smart, caring, giving, loving and funny. My family is different in the fact that for the past 11 years my family has been separated. My brother and I live on the east coast while the rest of our family resides in Colorado. We've only seen each other a couple times a year for the past 11 years. No matter how much time passes though the love is always there and is ready to be picked up right where we left off. I can still remember when she got on that plane 11 years ago and looked at me and said, "I don't want to go." I looked at her and said you're getting ready to embark on the greatest journey of your life. In Georgia you've always been known as Paul and Daniel's little sister. You're going to go out to Colorado and become whoever you want to be. They don't know us there. Each visit that I come out here I am so thankful that that statement has come true. She has become even more of the person that I hoped that she would be.

I love her with all my heart and am so thankful that she has found that person to share her life with. I know that through the yin and the yang of this relationship they will make beautiful memories. I look forward to the future that this wonderful couple will embark on and am thankful that they have found each other. I wish you both nothing but the best and believe that the love that you too share will truly inspire people. It is with great honor that I ask everyone to please join with me and celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Shaun Thomas.