The Boy Who Stood at the Altar

Chapter 1: Ahhh Smile

The first thing I noticed as I walked my daughter down the aisle was not the flowers, although there were hundreds of them.

It was not the music, either, or the guests turning in their seats, or the way my daughter’s hand tightened around my arm when everyone stood.

It was his shoes.

Polished black leather, planted firmly on the floor at the far end of the aisle.

Inside them, his feet were holding him upright.

Ten years earlier, doctors had told us that might never happen.

Beside me, my daughter took a careful breath. Her veil trembled against her shoulder.

“You okay?” I whispered.

She smiled without looking away from him. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this walk.”

So had he.