September 1,2009 marks 2 years that Landen and Joyanna were married. I will never forget the beautiful day of my brother’s wedding and the wonderful lady that he married. We were in Corning, Iowa. I arrived in Iowa 2 days early to help prepare. We stayed with Rod and Lavaun (Joyanna’s parents) about 45 minutes from the town. Mom and Dad wanted to have a last little lunch before the BIG DAY. The morning of the rehearsal Landen decided he wanted to have a moment just the two of us before everything got chaotic… so we made plans to drive into town together…except in our chipper conversations we lost direction and ended up in the small town of “Clarinda”…I don’t remember how far out of the way…but plenty. We laughed and listened to Big Band music and caught up on life together… I miss that most of all…Landen had the gift of turning any little situation into a grand and glorious story.
Mom and Dad were staying in a mobile home park in their motorhome because there are not a lot of places to stay in Corning, Iowa! We made it to the park, still cheerfully conversating…walked up to what we thought was mom and dad’s place…pounded on the door and to our surprise a man with boxers grumpily answered the door… so astonished and amazed Landen and I speechlessly turned to one another…paused… then busted out in laughter! Unable to understand the situation because we were unable to explain the situation because of our embarrassment and laughter the man slammed the screen. We peered around the camper only to see our mom and dad walking our dog down the road to greet us!!! We all had a moment of explosive laughter. It took us a good 5 minutes to compose ourselves enough to recount the merry little tale.
Everything went so quickly…but everything so meaningful and beautiful…I could not hold back tears…mostly tears of joy. There is one scene which I will never forget. Although precious and priceless it was not the exchanging of the vows, nor the smirks of the groomsmen, nor was it even the look of pride and joy Landen had on his face as his bride strolled down the aisle…it wasn’t the carefully designed and detailed decorating, nor the priceless song Landen wrote and sang for Joyanna… no it was a moment caught by my mother…It is my picture for today and has become probably my favorite picture of Landen and I…
Pictures had been taken…the service was 15 mins away…and Landen and I were headed to the basement of the church to join the rest of the wedding party preparing to take their places.. we paused on the stairs and Landen laughed… he was happy..then he placed his arm around me and squeezed me so tightly I thought I would burst…then he cried…I cried…he told me he was so proud of me and I was priceless…he said “Larissa, I want you to experience this…and you will…I am so happy, scared, nervous, excited…so much!” ..we laughed…my mom was buzzing by snapping photos and she called for our attention…snapped the picture and was on her way…I had the opportunity before Landen let me go to say, “I’m proud of you, Landen! You’re the best brother and I know you’ll make the best husband. I love you!” and we parted.
Mom and Dad were staying in a mobile home park in their motorhome because there are not a lot of places to stay in Corning, Iowa! We made it to the park, still cheerfully conversating…walked up to what we thought was mom and dad’s place…pounded on the door and to our surprise a man with boxers grumpily answered the door… so astonished and amazed Landen and I speechlessly turned to one another…paused… then busted out in laughter! Unable to understand the situation because we were unable to explain the situation because of our embarrassment and laughter the man slammed the screen. We peered around the camper only to see our mom and dad walking our dog down the road to greet us!!! We all had a moment of explosive laughter. It took us a good 5 minutes to compose ourselves enough to recount the merry little tale.
Everything went so quickly…but everything so meaningful and beautiful…I could not hold back tears…mostly tears of joy. There is one scene which I will never forget. Although precious and priceless it was not the exchanging of the vows, nor the smirks of the groomsmen, nor was it even the look of pride and joy Landen had on his face as his bride strolled down the aisle…it wasn’t the carefully designed and detailed decorating, nor the priceless song Landen wrote and sang for Joyanna… no it was a moment caught by my mother…It is my picture for today and has become probably my favorite picture of Landen and I…
Pictures had been taken…the service was 15 mins away…and Landen and I were headed to the basement of the church to join the rest of the wedding party preparing to take their places.. we paused on the stairs and Landen laughed… he was happy..then he placed his arm around me and squeezed me so tightly I thought I would burst…then he cried…I cried…he told me he was so proud of me and I was priceless…he said “Larissa, I want you to experience this…and you will…I am so happy, scared, nervous, excited…so much!” ..we laughed…my mom was buzzing by snapping photos and she called for our attention…snapped the picture and was on her way…I had the opportunity before Landen let me go to say, “I’m proud of you, Landen! You’re the best brother and I know you’ll make the best husband. I love you!” and we parted.
You made me cry Larissa. This is a beautiful picture, both in words and the one your mom caught with the camera. You and Landen were so good at sharing your thoughts. You always made people feel special and you both always took the time to tell others how much they meant to you and were so encouraging. That's what I love about both of you! I'm glad you guys took the time to share those words with each other. What a beautiful memory.
ReplyDeleteLanden was so thoughtful, considerate and good with words. I'm so glad you have this memory. What a nice pic. I love you.
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