Today was by far, the best day of work I've had since starting this job in January. For starters, for the first time in over a week, the sun was out and shining like...well, the sun. White fluffy clouds were nudged along softly by a gentle breeze through a beautiful and most welcomed blue sky. Birds were chirping and in my mind I heard the guy from the musical "Oklahoma" singing "Oh, what a beautiful mor----ning." I felt like grabbing the microphone from our karaoke machine and joining in.
I left the house but not before stopping to enjoy Bambi, Thumper and Flower peacefully grazing in the front yard. They were being serenaded by Snow White, with her head in the wishing well, wishing for the one she loves to find her. Then that guy in the Colonel Sanders suit wrapped things up by his rendition of "Zip-A-De-Do-Da". And lo and behold, he even had a bluebird on his shoulder. The whole scene (which was in my mind the whole time) brimmed with joy and elation of this sun-shiny day.
As I strolled on into work, I sensed the same good-feeling mood in the air. I gladly worked with a young bride who was easy-going and open to trying on any dress. She didn't have any hang-ups about her body and appreciated my input. The only downside was that she had a thong on, but I could deal with it. She had that bohemian-chic vibe to her and kept smiling saying "it's all good." Her biggest concern was that she would be able to do the booty-dance in whatever dress she picked. You go girl!
At the same time I was working with this bride, Mindy, another employee, was working with a plus-sized bride named Gloria. First of all, if I could have a little sister, it would be Mindy. I just love her. Mindy is the Mother Theresa of the homeless and hopeless. This includes people and animals. She's nurturing and compassionate and has the wonderful gift of loving others with reckless abandonment. And she's madly in love with her hubby Michael.
Any way, back to Gloria. I actually met Gloria first as she came in through the back door and walked right into the area where I was with my bride. She was this stout little plump gal with a big smile on her face. She looked at me and said, in a slow southern drawl, "hi y'all, is it ok that I came through the back?" Honey, with that sweet voice and matching smile, you could have came through the roof and it would have been ok. I asked her if she had an appointment and she said yes and that her name was Gloria. Of course it was because this girl was (as my daughter would say) an "ange." A precious ange.
I directed her to the front desk where she could check in. A big kind of guy followed her, all smiles too. As Mindy worked with her, beautiful precious Gloria would come out of her dressing room, beaming, and float over to the pedestal as if on air. She smiled and giggled as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She would then yell back to my bride and tell her, in her distinct southern twang, just how beautiful my bride looked in her dress. And then my bride would compliment her as well and everyone was happy and smiling and I felt like telling everyone in the store that we were going to have a group hug.
It's amazing how God orchestrates events in our lives. God, in his great love for both Mindy and Gloria, brought those two together that day. For one thing, Mindy is plus-sized herself, in a voluptuous pear-shaped way. She is one hot mama with curves in all the right places. Not like my kind of plus-size shape which is a "B" as in blubber. Another great reason for Mindy to work with Gloria was that Mindy, being plus-sized herself, knew the challenges that slightly larger women face when looking for bridal gowns. The options are very limited but Mindy knew just how to make Gloria look as beautiful on the outside as she was on the inside. Plus, Mindy and Gloria just clicked; I'm sure that they were facebook friends by the end of the day.
Mindy helped Gloria find an absolute gorgeous dress and all the accessories that went with it. While Gloria was getting dressed, Mindy told me that the big fella with Gloria was Michael, her fiance. Since her maid of honor couldn't be there for the appointment, she brought Michael because she said that he was her best friend. Precious...simply precious. Mindy described to me how, during the appointment, the couple would dance, as if it were their wedding day, gazing into each other's eyes with all the love and admiration their hearts could convey.
Even Mindy, who absolutely loves her hubby Michael, said that she and Michael have never looked at each other the way this couple looked at each other. That's saying a lot because Mindy really loves Michael and Michael really loves Mindy.
After the well-wishes and hugs of congratulations from all of us, we sent the happy couple on their way. And although they left the shop, they did not leave our hearts. I told Mindy that this will be the couple, who fifty years from now, will be dancing in their kitchen with that same loving look in their eyes. He'll hold her close and tell her that she is even more beautiful then the day he married her. She'll blush and say, in her gentle southern style, "I love you too, Michael." (Excuse me, I need a tissue.)
So thank you God, for proving to us daily that love, true and pure love, comes from you. You give it freely to all of us, in all our various shapes and sizes, in hopes that we will see that love is blind and beautiful and meant for all of us.
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