Here Comes the Bride...

Tomorrow, Kate Middleton is a bride and a princess.  She gets a real prince.  Lucky girl in some ways and not so lucky in others.

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I know how I felt leading up to my wedding last August - overwhelmed with love and joy - but I cannot fathom how she must feel.  The magnitude of emotions that I felt knowing that I was committing myself to one man for the rest of my life was great.  The magnitude of emotions that Kate must be feeling must be overwhelming - some really incredibly good and some of fear of the unknown.  She is not only committing herself to a man but she is entering a life of great sacrifice.

I believe that women in general sacrifice more than men do in a marriage.  There's nothing wrong with it and I certainly don't complain about it but it is a fact.  Traditionally, we sacrifice our last names to take on the name of our husband.  We also tend to sacrifice and compromise more to keep the peace and happiness in our family.  The sacrifice that Kate is facing is none that I can imagine or will ever experience.

Kate is not only sacrificing her last name - I'm sure she wasn't even given a choice - but she is also sacrificing her privacy, her family (I don't believe she will be able to spend Christmas with her family again), and so much more than possible to get into here in one short blog post.  I give her a lot of credit.  She dated Prince William for eight years before he proposed, so she knows what she is getting herself into.  From what is shown of her on the news, she seems to be pretty grounded - you've gotta love a girl who could buy any designer in the world but shops at the chain retailer a week before her wedding - and confident.  I hope that she keeps that confidence and doesn't lose herself like Diana did before her.

I wish both of Prince William and her much happiness, enduring love and commitment, as many children as they desire, and a peaceful and joyful life together.

For Kate's big day, as she becomes a wife and a princess, I wish her the clarity to take in every single moment of the day.  I wish her joy as she walks down the aisle to her future husband and happiness and love as she walks up the aisle into a new life for herself.

Many happy returns to Prince William and the future Princess Catherine!