Being A Bridesmaid For The First Time

So, now that I’m sneaking up on 30, it’s finally my turn to be a bridesmaid. The lucky girl in question is someone I’ve known more than half my life — she’s like a sister to me — and as I begin to contemplate what the next year will bring in terms of whacky wedding stories, my thoughts are also turning to deeper, more personal questions about what it means to be a “grown up” and how quickly time passes us all.

I remember when my friend and I first met — standing around waiting for the bus to take us somewhere in fifth grade. We went through elementary and junior high together, tackling boys, algebra and acne. Then in high school we braved ninth grade together before I was forced to move away; even then, once we were hundreds (later thousands) of miles apart, it felt like she was there. I suppose, in a way, she really was.

And so now, a week or so after receiving the news, I am trying to consolidate what it means to have gone through childhood, then adolescence and now adulthood with someone who is about to make this major life decision. One the one hand, it bowls me over, “Like, wow!” That’s such a huge step; it’s not that I don’t see her as an adult, but rather, I still have flashes of us snickering over boys with too much gel in their hair in seventh grade.

Then there’s the other side of the story. How wonderful it is to see someone I care for this much find true happiness and ask me to be a part of it. To not only be happy for her, but to be organically happy myself as I help her celebrate this big step, to know that life is a series of steps and celebrations and milestones, and that they all fit together somehow.

Now that I’m headed down the path of being a maid of honor, I guess I’ll have a lot more ruminating to do on the subject. In the meantime I’m going to continue to be so happy for my friend, even if my thoughts occasionally turn to the unfortunate bangs we sported back in the day, and hope that as I accompany her on this next step, I’ll edge just a little closer to understanding living life as a grown up.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD