To say the last week has been crazy and hectic would be the true definition of an understatement. On Tuesday of last week I had a procedure to shock my heart back into rhythm, something I needed to get done. Why? Because just three nights later would be the start of two of the most magical nights of my life. My daughter got married and the high from that still hasn’t worn off as I type this, nor has the exhaustion!

I guess I really didn’t know what to expect going into this whole wedding thing, the bride and groom did all the planning and all I really had to do was write a speech (more on that later). Things didn’t start well when my suit showed up a day late and when I went to try it on, the pants looked like “high waters” according to my wife. I thought I looked like Goober Pyle. Anyway, we were fortunate that there was a seamstress on hand an she had me fixed up and ready to go in 10 minutes.

Fast forward to Friday. The wedding was to be held in an absolutely spectacular setting, the second floor ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. First up came rehearsal, which went smoothly, with so many wonderful people making up the wedding party and a wedding planner who was right on top of everything. I had gone down earlier to the ballroom and measured that it was 35 steps that I had to take to make it to the altar. I figured that was doable.

Next up came a trip down Columbia Parkway to the rehearsal dinner, held at The Precinct, a place I had never been before. The people there were so gracious and helpful. Lots of laughs, great conversations with my daughter’s future in-laws, and desserts that were out of this world. Kelsey’s future father-in-law (Ron Sargent) convinced me to try the butter pie and it was great and then I tried the chocolate torte, which reminded me of licking the spoons when my Mom made a chocolate cake when we were younger.

That wasn’t the end of the night, however, as the next stop was the Handlebar Club at Great American Ball Park for what they called a “Welcome Party”. (Now this column has a sports reference). I’ll admit this was quite a cool experience. They turned the lights of the ballpark on for us and it was just a fun time for everybody, a very unforgettable ending to night number one.

Next up was Saturday…wedding day. My first duty of the day came mid-afternoon when my son and I were part of something called “First Look”. That is when we got to see Kelsey for the first time in her full wedding dress, makeup, hair, the whole nine yards. They mic’d me up for the occasion and I wasn’t real sure what to say and have no clue what I did say. That will probably be edited out of the final video but I do remember that she looked absolutely radiant. I just couldn’t find the right words to express that.

Later after the first obligatory photo session, it was time for the big moment. When it comes to my kids and family, I tend to get very emotional and don’t mind admitting that I do cry sometimes. Kelsey chose to have both her mother and I walk her down the aisle and I was bound and determined not to get emotional, so I was just laser focused on getting to the front. So much so that I never even heard the music that was playing. We had to text Kelsey Monday night to ask what song was on, turns out it was a beautiful violin rendition of “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”. From there, I was good, the ceremony went smoothly and I made it back down the aisle without incident and it was on to more photographs and a cocktail hour so the ballroom could be converted into the reception area, which was pretty amazing in itself.

The cocktail hour was loud and crowded, just like it should have been, with a chance to catch up with some family, while one of the groomsmen and myself continually checked the score of the Notre Dame football game. Ironically, the Irish were playing Boston College and the groom (Alex) has degrees from both places. When it was time for the reception, I thought my big moment, otherwise known as the “Father’s Welcome Speech”, was still an hour or so away. that was until the DJ handed me a wireless microphone and said you’re up next, Yikes! So there I was alone on the stage in front of nearly 200 people, ready to talk about my daughter and her now-husband. This time I didn’t make it. Though there were no big crying outbursts, there were a number of “choked-up” moments.

Of course, no fellow was going to marry my daughter without being a giant sports fans so I talked about how Alex passed my four biggest tests that involved Notre Dame football, UK basketball, the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals (which of course I compared to being able to overcome any struggles of marriage if you can be a Bengals fan). I then attempted to talk about some of the memories of my “little girl” and a couple of them put me over the edge, oddly enough one of them when I recalled her making two free throws in the final minute for Ripley to beat Eastern for the first time in like 20 years. Yep, we are a sports family!

As I told my captive audience, memories are strange. You know they are locked up somewhere in the recesses of your mind, but sometimes you just can’t find the key to open them up. As I told people later, it’s not hard to talk about your daughter at 32 yesrs old, but then this image of a bouncing, energetic 6-year old little girl pops in your mind and everything goes haywire. I did eventually make it through the speech and many guests later told me it was great and made them cry, but I’m not sure whether they really liked it or were just trying to be nice to me.

I had one more duty to fulfill, the father-daughter dance and I think I nailed that. We used “I Loved Her First” by Heartland and it was another magic moment for me. The rest of the night I just sat in the middle of the action and soaked it all in. These were memories I didn’t even want to be locked up. I even slow danced with my wife a few time for only the second time in 34 years. Yeah, we are real party animals!

Following that the action moved to the hotel bar where we all watched Game 7 of the world Series and socialized some more. Though I wanted the night to go on forever, it finally came time for the old folks to pack it in. On Sunday morning, it was time to say goodbye and go our separate ways and that may have been the toughest moment for me. Like for any Dad, it’s tough to let the “little girl” go.

It’s all behind us now and as I type this, my daughter and her husband are somewhere over the Pacific Ocean on their way to Hawaii and I’ll still worry until we get that “Just Landed” text. No matter where she is or what she is doing, I’ll never stop worrying about my “little girl”. And I hope the magic of last weekend never escapes my memory.