Page 111 of Living for Truth

I give the twins and Aly a hug and a kiss on the cheek before we leave, and they wave us off as we drive away.

Wes and Elli’s ceremony is held in a lovely botanical garden in Austin, right in front of a waterfall. There are less than twenty people here, but the love pouring from everyone is palpable. Keely and the rest of the band are here, along with Wes’s close-knit friend group, and Emma and her fiancé flew in, too.

Izzy walks Elli down the aisle, beaming at her sister. Elli looks so beautiful and so happy, it makes me tear up a little. It’s not flashy, just a white satin dress with spaghetti straps that hugs her curves and has a slit running up the thigh. Her hair curls in long waves down her back with half of it twisted back and decorated with baby’s breath.

Wes gets emotional when he sees her walking in, falling to a crouching position and covering his mouth as tears stream down his face. He has on a plain black dress shirt, rolled to his elbows, and black dress pants. His long hair is pulled back into a neat bun.

Wes’s best friend, Robin, is officiating the ceremony, and she can barely get the words out because she keeps tearing up.

When they get to the vows, Wes tries to compose himself, but he still cries when he promises Elli forever, and Elli blubbers her way through her own vows as she promises him the same.

I find myself a little misty-eyed by the end of the ceremony. It reminds me of the small party we had to celebrate our marriage on our one-year anniversary. Morgan and I exchanged vows in front of his family, my brother and cousins, and Sage. I had already done the big wedding, and Morgan didn't care about having a big party. It was small and intimate, just like Elli’s, and it was perfect.

Wes’s friend, Matt, knows a guy who owns an exclusive fancy restaurant in Austin—where he apparently took Elli on a date before she started dating Wes—so we head there for a small reception after the ceremony.

The rest of the night is filled with dancing, drinks, laughter, and good food.

“It’s wild to see how far the three of us have come, isn’t it? Especially you and Elli. You two were much deeper into the church than I was,” Emma muses from next to me. Wes and Elli just cut their cake, and now they’re feeding each other bites in between kissing and laughing.

“It’s nice to finally be able to be ourselves.”

“‘Live for truth.’ Isn’t that what Grandpa always said? I don’t thinkthistruth is exactly what he meant, but it’s our truth. That’s what matters.”

“Probably not what he meant,” I agree. “But I hope he’s proud of us anyway.”

I like to think that whatever the afterlife has to hold, Grandpa Walter is looking down on us and smiling at the fact we’re happy. We may not be part of the church anymore, but we’re living for ourselves and our loved ones, and I think that’s the best thing we could do.

The End