Have you ever felt a little awkward as one of the few members of the wedding party that has to get up for the garter toss? You look back at people you have known for almost a decade and realize that most of them are either a Mr. & Mrs. or well on their way to being one. And time makes you have one of those flashback moments. It's like the ending of The Wiz. When Dorothy starts singing "Home" and all the people she loved and has come to love appear in the stars, that's how I felt. Only the song in my head and that the DJ was spinning to my soundtrack was "International Player's Anthem" by UGK ft. Outkast. That was the tiniest thought that I had while I watched my friend William Kennedy wed the former Latasha Lyons.
Rewind to North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. My life could have went in so many different directions if I hadn't met this kid from Fayetteville, NC by way of Chattanooga, TN. He was the first friend I made when I moved from Baltimore, MD. I was homesick by the end of Freshman Week, my roommate hadn't arrived yet, classed hadn't started, and I was filling out forms for Late Registration at Morgan State. I stumbled across the Union. And spades. And Will. And a few other brothers that would welcome me into their fold and nickname me Sisqo (the Bmore association, plus my bright shirt). Oh it was definitely a joke. Those were two things you had to be able to do to sit at a Spades table down there. Of course know how to play good, and to talk shit. Will a.k.a Bullethead was my running mate. We survived out of each others refrigerators, pockets, connects, closets, and rooms.
Fast forward 4 years to my move back to Greensboro, and once again sharing an apartment complex with my homie. Who happened to be living with the woman I had heard had tamed this WyldChild. That woman who would become the mother of his child. And on the first weekend of the new year became his wife. Eight years in the making. And all this flashed before my eyes as his wife-to-be came down the stairs. The CeCe Winans song "Alabaster Box" was song by a member of the choir, and I had heard the song before but never really listened to it. It talked of a broken woman giving her life to Christ and somehow also sang the song of Tasha joining her life with Will. And from Tasha's presence, to Will's emotion showing on his face, it was enough to move even the groomsmen to a tear. We had to avoid each others eyes as to not fully give into the spirit of the moment. But I was moved. And envious. And excited. And filled with happiness that I was asked to share this moment with two people so willing to give of themselves to stop becoming a "me" and become an "us".
The reception hall zooms back into focus as Andre 3000's voice comes over the speakers. And Will realizes that 'we got his back like chiropractic...now hurry hurry go on to the altar I know you ain't a pimp but pimp remember what I taught ya, keep your heart..." And you know what he turns and says to his wife before the speakers blow out...'I Choose You'.
Rewind to North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. My life could have went in so many different directions if I hadn't met this kid from Fayetteville, NC by way of Chattanooga, TN. He was the first friend I made when I moved from Baltimore, MD. I was homesick by the end of Freshman Week, my roommate hadn't arrived yet, classed hadn't started, and I was filling out forms for Late Registration at Morgan State. I stumbled across the Union. And spades. And Will. And a few other brothers that would welcome me into their fold and nickname me Sisqo (the Bmore association, plus my bright shirt). Oh it was definitely a joke. Those were two things you had to be able to do to sit at a Spades table down there. Of course know how to play good, and to talk shit. Will a.k.a Bullethead was my running mate. We survived out of each others refrigerators, pockets, connects, closets, and rooms.
Fast forward 4 years to my move back to Greensboro, and once again sharing an apartment complex with my homie. Who happened to be living with the woman I had heard had tamed this WyldChild. That woman who would become the mother of his child. And on the first weekend of the new year became his wife. Eight years in the making. And all this flashed before my eyes as his wife-to-be came down the stairs. The CeCe Winans song "Alabaster Box" was song by a member of the choir, and I had heard the song before but never really listened to it. It talked of a broken woman giving her life to Christ and somehow also sang the song of Tasha joining her life with Will. And from Tasha's presence, to Will's emotion showing on his face, it was enough to move even the groomsmen to a tear. We had to avoid each others eyes as to not fully give into the spirit of the moment. But I was moved. And envious. And excited. And filled with happiness that I was asked to share this moment with two people so willing to give of themselves to stop becoming a "me" and become an "us".
The reception hall zooms back into focus as Andre 3000's voice comes over the speakers. And Will realizes that 'we got his back like chiropractic...now hurry hurry go on to the altar I know you ain't a pimp but pimp remember what I taught ya, keep your heart..." And you know what he turns and says to his wife before the speakers blow out...'I Choose You'.
