Full Circle

Rachel stood in her best friend Lisa's bedroom, who also happened to be her Matron of Honor, admiring her reflection in the full-length mirror. The white wedding gown trimmed in lace and pearls, lay slightly off her shoulder. She wondered what the pastor and her parents would say about the tattoo on her right shoulder that she had tried so hard to hide. It was a red heart that read "Baby girl." "Oh well," she thought. "I tried." It wasn't like it was anything distasteful, she reasoned. However, it did boldly show that she had defiled her TEMPLE! She giggled and concentrated on more happy thoughts. Rachel couldn't believe that after all these years, twelve to be exact, she was finally marrying the one man she'd loved since she could remember. She was tempted to pinch herself, except that if it was a dream she certainly didn't want to wake up. Rachel had read many books and seen many movies about women and men searching for that Mr. or Mrs. Right and living happily ever after, but she never really thought it would ever happen to her. When she remembered what her life was like just a few years ago, she never would have believed that people could change, and change so drastically. While joining the Navy had been terrifying for her, turns out it was the best choice she could have made. She found herself there. She found her strength there. She grew there. Most of all, she'd found Mitchell Ghram there.