G
F
A T
H
E
R
O
F
T
H
E
G
R
O
O
M
To
Michael
&
Emily
A
toast
given
at
their
wedding
celebration
ood evening, everyone. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Richard — Michael’s dad —
and I have been waiting for this night for a very long time.
Emily, before I say anything else, let me properly welcome you to the family. I knew the first time Michael
brought you home for dinner. He was nervous about the meal, which for our house is honestly not
unusual — but it wasn’t the food he was worried about. It was you. He wanted us to love you.
We did. Instantly.
Michael, I remember chasing after you in the backyard when you were five years old — you, with a glass
jar, trying to catch lightning bugs and insisting that one night you would catch the moon itself. I used
to smile and think,
one day he’ll understand you can’t catch the moon.
Then you met Emily. So much for
my advice.
Being your father has been the greatest privilege of my life. But watching you become the man standing
here tonight — patient, kind, steady — has been its own reward. Emily has brought out the very best in
you, and you, clearly, have brought out the very best in her. Never lose what you have found in each
other. Be each other’s soft place to land, on the easy days and especially on the hard ones.
To Emily’s parents — thank you for raising this remarkable woman and for welcoming our son as your
own. I promise you tonight that we will love her like a daughter. Because from this moment on, she is.
So please, everyone, raise your glasses. May your marriage be full of laughter. May your kitchen always
smell of something good. And may every ordinary day you share feel, just a little bit, like luck. To Michael
and Emily — and to a lifetime of love.
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