Preface: What’s a hungry man, Daddy?

The flowers were beautiful – a dozen of bright orange sunflowers with fuzzy dark brown centers, tied with a huge yellow bow. A small envelope dangling from the bow caught Lily’s eye. Her fingers trembled as she carefully plucked the envelope from the bouquet, opened it, and pulled out the card.

“To my Sunshine… with all my love.”

She read the words once, twice, three times, absorbing the affectionate words from the man she was about to spend the rest of her life with. Lily’s heart began to pound as she hugged the flowers to her chest, careful not to crush a single petal. Suddenly, she felt the entire hustle and bustle halt momentarily. The makeup artiste putting finishing touches to her hair or makeup faded away. There was no bridesmaid fussing with her off-shoulder, flowing ivory gown that draped around her shoulders and wrapped around her hips perfectly.

“Honey, you look absolutely stunning!” Hovering over her was a gigantic figure of a man, tall, with bulky, strong arms and a 45-inch beer belly. Little stubbles of facial hair were already visible on his ‘just-shaven-in-the morning’ chin. As Lily stood up, the trail of her gown fell gracefully to the floor.

Lily’s petite frame seemed like a midget next to the giant; she buried her face onto the chest of this huge, huggable bear-like figure and squealed, “Oh, pappy! This morning, the caterer forgot the tablecloths; these stringy necklace just doesn’t seem to fit the gown; and I’ve got the worst case of butterflies the ENTIRE morning. What if I trip and fall flat on my face as I walk down the aisle? Ooo… and pappy, look… look at these beautiful flowers.”

Pappy’s deep voice chuckled, “And he thought those flowers were just the thing to calm you down – you’re a bag of jitters! Honey, everything is going to be a blast. Here, these are for you.”

Lily gasped as she held a string of white pearls in her hands gingerly, “Pappy… these were the pearls you gave mama when you exchanged your vows. These were mama’s favorite. I simply couldn’t…”

“She would’ve wanted me to give you these today, especially today. She’d be so proud, if only she could see what a beautiful lady you’ve grown up to be,” Pappy choked back a tear as he recalled the memory of his late wife.

“Mr. Langhorn! Lily! There are 450 impatient guests and a nervous groom wondering what’s keeping the bride. If you do not want them to start worrying that they’ve got a runaway bride, I suggest that the both of you get moving this instant!” Lily laughed at sight of her frantic fiancée’s best man, Nicholas. She took one last long look at the reflection in the mirror as her late mother’s pearls perfected the picture. Staring back at her was a reflection of a face glowing full of joy and excitement, ready to take on the unknown challenges of marriage hood…