Sadness To Joy

When we arrived at the church, the wedding coordinator gave the girls wrist corsages to wear. She pinned on my corsage, but couldn't find Michael's boutoniere. After searching several times, she began to get worried. The bride & groom had their flowers, as did the groomsmen and bridesmaids. But the father of the groom's boutoniere was missing.

The coordinator opened the remaining corsages and checked the names on each of those. It was then I noticed my mom's corsage. Teary-eyed, I told the woman that my mom and dad could not make it to the wedding. My mom had only gotten out of the hospital on Monday and was unable to make the Thursday flight. I suggested she give my dad's boutoniere to Michael, which she did.
I turned my attention to Ethan. He'd driven over with us. Christina hadn't arrived yet. Looking like a gentleman in his little black suit, I saw Ethan tug on his lapel. He turned, looked quizzically at his grandpa, then peered down at his jacket.

"Ethan wants to wear a flower," one of the girls remarked. About this time, Christina showed up. The coordinator gave her a wrist corsage. Ethan took her hand and pulled. She turned to greet him. He held his jacket lapel out to her. The tears were falling too easily at this point. How could I tell this little boy he didn't have a flower to wear, even though the rest of the men did? His eyes searched the faces of everyone, as if pleading for someone to notice he didn't match.

There sat my mom's unworn corsage. Quickly, it was pinned to his suit. A smile spread across his face. He wore it proudly. We didn't find out until Saturday, that my mom was back in the hospital.