My Speech at the Rehearsal Dinner.

I am exhausted today after being on the go for two weeks straight. So I am not going to compose my wedding blog tonight. The couch is calling pretty loudly at the moment. So I will give a link to Tara's pre-wedding photos and give a link to Keelie's blog about the wedding. For my post I copied my speech that I had the priviledge of giving at the rehearsal dinner.

http://www.iveystudio.com/tara11/
http://wearelosingitblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/adventure-of-lifetime.html

The Speech

I am not known for being short on words. So tonight is NO different. I get a few extra moments because I get to speak on behalf of Chad’s father and myself.

First I want to thank all of you for being here tonight to celebrate with us in this marriage.

I decided for my speech to go back a few years and give a top ten speech –

We will call it Marilyn’s Top Ten Random Thoughts.

10. When you describe Chad there are four letters that comes to mind at some point of his description.  ADHD.  It did not take but a few weeks after his birth to realize that Chad had a different temperament. He was in constant motion from the very beginning. In fact, we nicknamed him “the worm” from the very beginning. Little did we know at this point that he was going to be ADHD.  This was the cause of many of his “beatings”. I did not leave home without my paint stirrer. which was what I called a BMP – behavior modification paddle. However, the other side of the story is that it never hurt me as much as it did him. He usually was so funny, when I was punishing him, I would end up laughing at him. This temperament is what has made Chad and defines who he is today.

9. Through out his life when I had something important to tell him, I would grab him by his arms and say – Look at me….  Tara, I highly recommend this technique if you really need his attention. I assure you he can appear to be looking and listening, but he will not hear a word.

8. The boys accused me many times through the years that I would never like a girl they chose. They had the attitude that I would never think a girl was good enough for the boys. Well they are wrong. I liked you, Tara, when you were in high school and I still do. I knew that it would take a very special person to get Chad to commit to for life. HE found that person in you, Tara.

7. I started praying many years ago that the boys would find the perfect spouses for them. I know that God answered this prayer for Chad. Tara, you are gift from God.

6. Chad wrote a song about his Dad. In it he asks would his dad be proud of him, is this the right direction, is he good enough son,  and are there things that he would say to him to be a better man. Chad, Carl would be very proud of you.

5. As with all family names, there is a stigma that goes with the name. I assure you that the Davis name is no different. I have heard comments such as Davis time, which usually means ‘Fashionable Late”. The Davis way – usually means on the spur of the moment or flying by the seat of our pants. Whatever it means to each of you, we are extremely proud to be sharing the Davis name with you, Tara. We welcome you to our family.

4. After Chad told me about the engagement and I got over the shock of Singapore, I immediately “googled” my new title, mother-in-law just to see what to expect. The common thread was that the parent passes the child to their new spouse, with the parent’s blessings. As hard as this will be, I feel good about passing him on to you.

My words of advice to you two:

3. Enjoy your lives together. Work at making your marriage fun. Life goes way too quickly. I promise you someday you will wake up and question where did the years go. Which leads to the next point – take many pictures throughout life with a good camera. This will help you to know where the years went.

2. Make sure God is always part of your life. You need Him on your side. Have a heart for God.

1. Finally - I'd like to propose a toast to Chad and Tara. May today be the beginning of a wonderful new and long-lasting chapter of your lives, and may you always love, honor and cherish each other, just as you do today.

I love you both!


(With God's help, I did get through this without a tear while giving it.)