Oct. 26, 2013, 7 p.m.
Father of the Groom: 1. The Introduction
M - Words: 485 - Last Updated: Oct 26, 2013 Story: Complete - Chapters: 14/? - Created: Oct 26, 2013 - Updated: Oct 26, 2013 145 0 0 0 0
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I want to say something about weddings.
I used to think they were simple. Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. He buys a ring. She buys a dress. They say, “I do.” They have babies. Their babies have babies, and so-on and on.
But I was wrong.
That's called getting married. A wedding's something else entirely.
I know.
I've just been through one.
Not mine, my son's — Kurt Hummel-Anderson. That's his married name — Anderson.
I'll be honest with you. When I bought this house 10 years ago, it probably cost less than this event in which Kurt Hummel became Kurt Hummel-Anderson.
My wife Carole tells me that some day I'll look back on this day with affection and nostalgia.
I hope so.
You fathers should understand. You've got a son — he's your only child — an adorable boy who looks up to you and loves you in a way you couldn't have imagined. You dream of playing catch in the backyard, of teaching him to throw a spiral, of taking pictures of him in his tux on the staircase before his first prom.
It doesn't always work out that way.
I remember how his little hand used to fit in mine, how he'd hold it so tight after his mom died. And I remember the dance classes and tea parties where I was clearly her stand-in, because she wasn't there to see our son grow up to become the man he is today. It wasn't exactly what I expected when the doctor first told us we'd had a boy, but it didn't matter, not a bit.
Then the day comes when he wants to meet his friends at the movies, and suddenly he wants you to drop him off a block from the theater.
Next thing you know, he's wearing these tight pants and clothes made by some guy whose name you can't even pronounce.
From that moment on, you're in a constant state of panic.
First, you worry how the world will treat him. Then, when he proves that he can handle it and then some, you worry about the people he hangs around with. You worry about him going out with the wrong kinds of people — boys who only want one thing from him
And you know exactly what that one thing is, because even though you and your son see the world a little differently, some things never change — and it's still basically the same thing you wanted when you were that age.
Then he gets a little older, and you quit worrying about him meeting the wrong guy and you start worrying about him meeting The Right Guy.
And that's the biggest fear of all, because then you lose him.
And before you know it, you're sitting all alone in a big, empty house wearing glitter on your tux, wondering what happened to your life.
It was just four months ago that it happened here, just four months ago that my world turned upside-down.
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