Finding "The One"

In 3 days my sister is getting married. Just like I never thought I would meet "The One", my sister Lori felt the same way about herself. In fact, the year she met Ben, she was invited to 4 weddings, all occurring in the same calendar year. These weddings took her all over the country from L.A. to Aspen and Miami. In most cases, each involved good friends who Lori knew since grade school, if not longer. I can remember her telling us how it was a 'couple's world' and she was never going to meet anyone. She was not looking forward to going to these weddings solo.

And, BAM!, just when you don't expect it to happen, when you think it never will, the perfect guy for you comes into your life. It all becomes clear and you know it was meant to be. This guy is your bashert (yiddish word, meaning 'destiny'). Lori was meant to meet Ben. It happened at Jodi's wedding in California; a family friend whose parents (hers and mine) were friends before Lori was even born. Jodi was marrying a guy named Dave, who went to college with Ben. Looking back and realizing all the crazy things that occurred to get Ben and Lori on the same shuttle from the hotel to the ceremony makes you realize that bigger forces were at play. And to boot, my mom was on the shuttle and witnessed the very first meeting too. Ben even asked my mom to dance that night. Anyone who knows my mom, knows this is HUGE!

From the way the story goes, Lori and Ben hit it off instantly. At the end of the evening, Ben inquired about seeing Lori again. Lori laughed and said, "I'm going on a cruise with my Aunt Hilda tomorrow morning. It is a 5 day cruise." In a move we come to later find out that is incredibly out-of-character for Ben, he got himself on the sold-out cruise and called Lori on her cell phone to tell her he was aboard the ship. Really. Lori and Aunt Hilda (who by the way grilled Ben endlessly for 5 days trying to get any kind of dirt on him. She couldn't find a single thing wrong with him.) enjoyed getting to know Ben better and had a fun week cruising. At the end of the trip, Aunt Hilda invited Ben to spend the weekend with them before Lori needed to head to the airport and Ben needed to drive back to where he lived, in San Francisco. Lori lived in Philadelphia at the time and upon telling her boss her great story of meeting someone at the wedding, arranged for Lori to go back to L.A. later that week for a work meeting. Lori called Ben, told him she could be in his area that weekend coming up and had a follow-up date in his city of S.F.

Fast forward 2 years later and Ben proposed to Lori. To say my family loves Ben is an understatement. He is easy going, very talented, musically gifted, incredibly nice and an all around great guy. He complements Lori and together they make a great pair. Ben started showing up at our family events and it is like he has always been there.

Lori ended up not having to go to the rest of the weddings that year or any of the other myriad of weddings she has been invited to since by herself. More than just finding a date to go to weddings with, she found someone to go through the rest of her life with.

It will be my pleasure to stand next to her and witness her nuptials. I can't wait to dance and celebrate the journey that brought her to this day. And I couldn't ask for a better man to become my brother-in-law.