here with you

...and here in your eyes, I'd like to stay

1. Family.

25th 8:00
I get out of my bed, running like a maniac in and out, trying to get my hair dried and my ao dai buttoned up

25th 8:45
I am in the car, driving to your place

25th 8:57
I am cursing the idiot who created the freaking traffic jam - Damn, I am gonna be 5 minute late
I am getting frustrated

25th 9:15 - 12:00
Up and down, 5 floors in heels, talking about madness and chaos.
Do you want a drink? a cake?
Where the hell is your flower?
Is the make up done yet?
... Hon and Ngoc are arranging flowers half the city away in the restaurant
... Bi is driving her tiny cutie car all over the places, getting newly made ao dai for her 6 aunts and mother
... My dad is walking back and forth arranging cars
... Uncles are clearing the traffic, wearing suits working like policemen
You are on your way to your new home

25th 22:00
You are on the way to the altar, in his hands
Again, I play the interpretor role, translating to your New Yorker friends the Vietnamese traditions
Chi Hon plays the camera woman role, snapping beautiful shots
Chi Bi plays the host, welcoming and ushering guests into their  seats
Chi Ngoc (Angie), exhausted after the whole day decorating the restaurant, sinks into her seats, mumbling something strange

25th 21:00
The party is over and I am on my way again
Chi Bi, Chi Hon, Angie and I all changed from our traditional costumes and heels to flats and casual clothes
Tomorrow is your party

26th 2:00
Chi Hon, Angie and I are on our way to Hanoi flower market, carrying flowers like real farmers
My mom is busy bargaining to save more and more money for you

26th 2:30 - 5:00
I am sitting on the floor, arranging wild flowers into different vases, decorating the restaurant
My nails change shade, from the healthy and pinkish clean color to the hideous mixture of dirt, sticky rubber and yellowish green, after hours and hours of cutting flowers
4000 flowers: baby lily, roses, ... unknown flowers from the wild
and yet we still have 2000 more to go
Chi Hon is on a ladder with my mom, working on your flower gate
Chi Bi is half asleep, half awake, making a gorgeous slide show for you
Staff of mom's restaurants were setting up the table
Hot pink silk for your table cloths, the most expensive one of a kind - the color of happiness, white chiffon ribbons are tied on every single chair - the color of purity
everything you like

26th 5:10
I am asleep, on a bed, made out of three different chairs
so is Angie, with her scarf covering her face, sleeping like a little child
Chi Hon and my mom are still wide awake, doing the finishing touch, with pride
Chi Bi snugs in her car, trying to find some comfort

26th 6:10
We think we are frozen to death
Hanoi at breaking dawn isn't that mild
On our way back home, I looked back with a smile
a sleepish one - will you be happy with your hard work?

26th 15:00
And the chaos starts again
We all in ao dai of different color, high in heels and charming in traditional hair style and make up
Running like maniac around the restaurant
Me - working on your wedding pictures table
Chi Hon: somewhere in Hanoi, getting your poster printed
Angie: armed with glue gun and artificial flowers - just a little bit MORE
Chi Bi: setting up the slide show
...

26th 17:00 - 23:00
In ao dai, I carry food to table like a waitress, smile like an air stewardess, greet strangers as if I have known them for ages - NOT punching stupid guys who think I tolerate stupidity and flirts
... my toes are killing me
I have not eaten anything since yesterday crappy dinner at the other hotel

why?

Because chi Trang, it's your wedding day
Because of that whole hearted cheerful smile that stays on your beautiful lips, it does not matter if there are more work to do, if there is more horrid traffic jam to cross and there are more aching legs, uncomfortable clothes...
Because we are family, you aren't my cousin, you are my sister.
Because grandma's only wish, is to see you happy on your wedding day with anh Hoang
Because we all cried wishing she were here, with us, to see you shine like a star

Because we belong to the same family, we share not the same parents but the same grandma

Congratulation on your wedding day, chi Trang

Welcome to our family, anh Hoang

May you be happily in love now and ever after...

we love you so much

... and this is my family, the one who does not have the lightest idea about the different between "cousins" and "sisters/brothers" - my family tree is surely full of nuts, we cried and laughed at the same time, share bits and bits of private jokes

BUT I LOVE THEM TO BITS

because they are my family

and I am freaking PROUD of them :)