My Toast to Geordan and Julie

On October 29th, two very important people in my life joined forces. My older brother by 16 months and my close friend and college roommate got married. It was my intention to give a toast at their wedding but my 17 month old got the best of me and my attention. Here is an attempt to recreate that moment (I know, for those of us who were there, this is impossible because it was so magical).

Some of my first memories of Geordan are bittersweet. We would eat Cattyface's cat food together under the jungle gym, we would mix potions in our make-believe lab behind the old Crowley house. He would also leave me in the dust when we walked to school, ignore me when we got to school and the worst was he could always make mom laugh when he was in trouble to get out of it! When we were young I just wanted to hang out with him so bad! As we got older, I tried to phase him out and create my own life and name for myself (not an easy thing to do when you get all the same teachers the next year in junior high!). Eventually we hit high school and all of a sudden I had cute friends and he and his friends were interested in hanging out. I, again, tried to do my own thing but always came back to wanting to hang out with my brother.

Funnily enough, Geordan (Nerdan as I call him) and my relationship really blossomed when I moved away to Chico. This is the time that I met Julie. Julie was Girl Jordan's friend who moved in with us 6 months after we moved to Chico. My first experiences of Julie were "Julie's Metal Cruisin Tunes" mix CD, and her being deathly ill in her bed wanting to move home. While we did not instantly "click" (she thought I played Simon & Garfunkel on the living room CD player to piss her off!), we always got along and had a good living relationship together. As the years rolled on (4-5 - I really wasn't ready to leave Chico and would spend weekends at J and J's) our relationship grew and blossomed. While I didn't frequently hang out with her crew, Julie could be spotted at a Buffalo Creek show once in a while or singing "New Slang" at 2am with all my long hairs. We became very close and shared some of life's most challenging and enlightening moments.

This is where Geordan and Julie's lives intersect and to my dismay, I really had nothing to do with it! They found each other back in SoCal and ready for the next phase of their life. They are compatible in more ways than I could ever imagine. Their kind nature works in harmony with the way they want to live their life. They have a million rescue dogs because they don't ever give up on anyone or anything. They have built businesses from nothing and created and become members of others family because they are the kind of people that we want in our family. They are ALWAYS thoughful, generous, and REAL!

I need to wrap this up because my 17 month old is waking up...

What I wanted to say the night you were married was that marriage is such an amazing experience and I knew you two would suit it well from the first moments you were together. Julie, welcome to the family and enjoy the Allen name... I know you will make us proud! Geordan, thank you for giving me another sister who is also my dear friend... I approve!

I love you both to the moon and 40 skies,

Emilie