When good things happen to good people.

At 7:23AM on Saturday morning, my phone rang. This in itself is not as disturbing as one might think. My friends from school and I have fallen into the habit of contacting each other at morning hours that would shock and disgust 17 year-old me. What did concern me was that it was my friend, Dennis, who was calling. Since he’s not on my roster of people who call at impolite hours, I got worried something bad happened. I hoped he was pocket dialing me.

I knew the moment I heard his voice that something big was happening. Dennis sounded uncontrollably excited and so happy, I ruled out the third possible reason for his call, which would simply be to annoy me. “Lori!” he yelled. “This is Dennis. And Jenny. And you’re on speaker phone!” Jenny is Dennis’ girlfriend and a friend of mine from high school. They asked me what I was doing on a certain Saturday in December. I told them I’d be flying back from Miami from my cousin’s wedding. Dennis and Jenny told me that I now have the option of attending another wedding; they’re getting married.

This news made me happy to the core. First of all, I love Dennis. He’s my brother. I admire and respect him immensely, and he has given me support so many times that I don’t know if I could ever adequately thank him. Dennis remains the inappropriate, obnoxious imp that I met through my brother about 20 years ago, but I’ve seen him grown and change into a dedicated, passionate, giving, and insightful man. He’s been through some really difficult times, and he always comes out stronger than before. When he and Jenny started dating, I was so glad because I knew Jenny was incredibly smart, genuine, and caring, and that she shared Dennis’ level of ridiculousness. He’d found the right girl.

The second reason Dennis’ good news was so welcome is because I felt like it had been awhile since I heard something good. Several of my friends have recently been dealt some extremely hard situations, and a bunch of us are just not feeling great right now. When Dennis and Jenny called to share their news, it reminded me that life is not just the struggle. There are moments when things just feel right and you wind up walking around grinning to yourself intermittently throughout the day. I was going to my friend from high school’s wedding that day, and truthfully, the night before I was feeling anxious.  I’ve been so out of sorts and I didn’t know if I could handle being around a ton of people. But after getting off the phone with Dennis and Jenny, I remembered how much my friend means to me, and that at her wedding, I would see my best friend and all our our other buddies. Weddings are good things, especially when they take place between someone you love and someone you believe is right for the person you care about.

I’m afraid I might not be able to make it back to the Northeast for Dennis and Jenny’s ceremony, but I’m going to do what I can to at least dance and drink with them after.