Anticipation Reproved

It wasn't anticipation like I usually felt for Christmas or playing with my neighbor the second the bell rang for class to be out. It wasn't even really the nervousness that I usually felt before going to the dentist. When I knew he was about to come up the escalator from the terminal, the feeling in my stomach told me I should have pulled out all the barbies from storage and laid them out in the living room to greet him, plaster our coffee table with all the pictures from our childhood and present him with all the keepsakes tucked away in the box under my bed from times I cherished with her. Just so he would know. That kind of feeling.

He was tall. I could see his thigh before I could actually see his head, and what a head it was! He had a long face that broke into a smile when he looked at my sister, and a lurpy body that lost its awkwardness as he reached for her hand or smoothly snuck his arm around her waist. At first glance, I was sure he wouldn't care even if I had put the barbies out.

"Krista, hm? Good to meet you. I'm LaDon." He stuck out a hand the size of a pack o bananas and I think I must have shook it.

Dairy farmer? I didn't think so. Had Jamie been telling us the truth about this guy? He looked sharp with his pinstripe suit, slender-toed shoes and close-cut hair. I doubted.

By the time the wedding rolled around 2 months later, my doubts had subsided, but the number of surprises had only grown. Dairy farmer? Definitely. That guy could wrangle with the best of them. In speech too. I've heard a lot of words in my life, but never so many from one source. Certainly an athlete, despite his awkward gait and flat-footed slouch. I never said it out loud and didn't join too much in coversation about it, but I thought it was true. Jamie had found a winner, and I had a favorite brother.

He even appreciated the pictures on the coffee table--stowed safely in the photo cabinet--and the barbies in storage. I should have anticipated that.