\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
I crouched down. \u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the reception room. \u201cWhy did Dad say you needed someone?\u201d<\/p>\n
I paused before answering.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes adults say things when they\u2019re upset,\u201d I told her. \u201cBut what someone says about you doesn\u2019t decide your value.\u201d<\/p>\n
She thought about that for a moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we wanted you here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I smiled. \u201cThat\u2019s what matters to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hugged me, and suddenly the entire reason I had brought Edward seemed unimportant.<\/p>\n
Later, Max approached me in the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what happens with you and Edward?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really need to know?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re getting married today,\u201d I said. \u201cYou should be thinking about your future, not mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stood quietly for a moment.<\/p>\n
Then I walked away.<\/p>\n
Outside, Edward was waiting near the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou okay?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I think I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled. \u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked back toward the building. For years, I had allowed someone else\u2019s opinion to influence how I saw myself. That night, something finally changed.<\/p>\n
My daughter climbed into the car and asked, \u201cMom, do I look okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled. \u201cDo you like your dress?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down and spun around once.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen that\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled and climbed into her seat.<\/p>\n
Before getting into the car, I caught my reflection in the window. For once, I didn\u2019t search for flaws or wonder what anyone else would think.<\/p>\n
I simply looked at myself.<\/p>\n
Then my youngest called from inside the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom! Let\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled, opened the door, and joined my daughters.<\/p>\n
I had arrived at the wedding wanting to prove something to Max.<\/p>\n
I left realizing I had nothing to prove at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cMom?\u201d I crouched down. \u201cHey.\u201d She looked toward the reception room. \u201cWhy did Dad say you needed someone?\u201d I paused before answering. \u201cSometimes adults say things when they\u2019re upset,\u201d I told her. \u201cBut what someone says about you doesn\u2019t decide your value.\u201d She thought about that for a moment. \u201cBut we wanted you here,\u201d she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40610,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40609\/revisions\/40610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}