Hellooooooooooo McEntee reception!!! Thank you all for being
here to celebrate this amazing day with Steph and Joe. For those of you that
don’t know me, I’m Juli Crawford, the bride’s best friend! I can’t believe I’m gonna share this with all
of you…but, Steph and I just celebrated our friendiversary. HaHaHa. But yes, we
celebrate the day we became friends every year! I know…I know we are weirdos...But
wow 18 years! That’s right 18 crazy years! We have grown up together. Steph-Can
you believe we have been friends since we were just scared little freshman in
high school, it was freshman English to be exact. Steph and I reminisce often about
how we met. It has kind of become a joke for us. It all started with a dumb
girl running her mouth and spreading rumors and trying to create drama, which
is a soooo unlike high school girls…Not! But who knew that that dumb girl would
be the reason I found my lifelong partner in crime. And from that first phone
call I knew that I wanted Steph to be my friend. Not just because she was beautiful,
which she was, and as you all can see, she still is, or to make me popular like
other friends I could have chosen, but because she showed me the real Stephanie,
right away. And I knew that was special. In high school it’s not easy to let
people see who you really are, but I saw her. It was in the eyes. Stephanie has
always been who she wants to be, with no excuses or apologies. I strive to be
like her more and more every day.
My mom told me when I was little to choose my friends wisely.
So…that is exactly what I did. I got amazingly lucky with my best friend. Steph, you are
intelligent, creative, beautiful, on the inside and out, unique and very kind. You
are also stubborn, impulsive, sometimes frustrating, complicated…But…I would
not have you any other way. To me, the best part about Stephanie is her
incredible loyalty. And she is a girl with one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. She
loves those important to her deeply and without question. I can’t think of
anyone I’d rather have watching my back. And I know this because our friendship
has been tested, oh how it has been tested. Boyfriends, accidents, and breakups,
emotional breakdowns, a brother, death and new life, too much time together and
way too much time apart. …Steph and I have been through all of this…some things
more than once. We have shared a lot of tears and some much more laughter. And look
where we are today, still together and by far the strongest friends we have
ever been. There are a lot of people that don’t understand our friendship or
think the circumstances are weird, but we could't care less. Our friendship is very
special because we have been through so much together. And it doesn’t matter if
anyone understands it cuz we understand it.
Steph-Look girl, look around...we made it! And I think that’s pretty
amazing. I don’t know where I’d be without you. I love the people we have
become through the years and the lives we have chosen to live. Especially the
man you have chosen…
Well Steph has always had an interesting taste in guys, to say the least. Which
brings me to you Joe jk-But seriously though, My Steph deserves the best. And I
would never settle for anything less. You know what I have always wanted for her???
True Happiness:
-a boy to brush the hair from her face-a boy to hold her hand
at the store and make all the other girls jealous of what she has-someone who
will join her when she bursts out into song at random moments (which she does quite often!)-a boy that will
always stick up for her no matter what-someone that can gossip with her when I
can’t-and just smile when she acts like…well…acts like Steph-a boy that will
throw stuffed animals in her direction when she says something dumb, but then
immediately kiss her a million times-Someone that will hug her and snuggle her
as often as she needs it, and Joe, as you well know, that’s pretty often!!!-someone
who will tell all his friends how much he loves her and smile while he does-a
boy that can argue about silly things but then make up!-I want the boy that is
going to count the stars with her-Someone that will tell her how beautiful she
is...every single day-Someone that will make her laugh often, gosh I love to
hear her laugh…So Joe, I just want to take a moment to thank you. Thank you for
being all of these things to my best friend. And thank you for being so much
more, every day. You have renewed her faith in true love. Thank you for that. But
Joe, I need you to realize how much I'm giving up today.
Steph is the girl I was supposed to grow old next to, my ride or die, my
other half, the Thelma to my Louise. But she chose true love instead of living the
single life with me. So please take extra special care of her because she means the
world to me!
Stephanie and Joe-You two have done something that in this
day and age is so rare. You have given your hearts to each other…unconditionally.
And that’s what true love really is. You two give me hope, and because of you
guys I again believe in true love, I again believe in love at first sight, and
I now believe that love can conquer all. That doesn’t mean there won’t be
hard days or difficult things to deal with because there will be, but finding
that one person makes it all so much easier. So thank you both for the constant
reminder that people don’t always suck. Let me leave you with a quote-Dante
once wrote “Remember
tonight, for it is the beginning of always. A promise, like a reward for
persisting through life so long alone. A belief in each other and the
possibility of love. A decision to ignore simply rise above the pain in the past.
A covenant, which at once binds two souls and yet severs prior ties. The
celebration of the chance taken and the challenge that lies ahead. For two will
always be stronger than one. Like a team braced against the tempests of the
world. And love will always be the guiding force in our lives. For tonight is
mere formality. Only an announcement to the world of feelings long held,
promises made long ago in the sacred space in our hearts.
I love you guys! So, in the words of Steph’s mom that I heard
so many times growing up “Juli, I think it’s time for you to go home now!!!”
Cheers!
