The warm sun shined brightly during that spring morning. Joyous birds sang their uplifting songs as our family began to start our day. My normal routine started as I went downstairs to eat breakfast. A sudden RING of the phone surprised me, mainly because I was not fully awake. I could hear slow and echoing steps of one of my parents gradually waking themselves up to answer the phone that also served as an alarm clock that morning. Thinking that this phone call had no significance, I carried on with eating my bowl of Cheerios. Later, when my mom came downstairs, she brought good news by saying that Aunt Michelle had called. Although this may seem as though it was just a phone call, I was excited because she lived in Ireland and we didn’t see her often. “Why did she call?” I asked my mom.

“Michelle just told us that she got engaged to her boyfriend, Kevin,” she told me in reply. “She invited us to her wedding in August!”

I was happy for Michelle; I really was. But as a five year old without a care in the world, I didn’t appear as excited as my other family members. I was acting greedy, as I know now. This marriage was great to hear of, but how was I involved in it? Soon enough, I found my answer.

“Michelle has asked you and Brendan to participate in the wedding. She wants you to be the flower girl and your brother to be the ring bearer,” my mother later announced.

Now I understood! I would go with my family and walk down the aisle; even if I wasn’t the one getting married. My conceited thoughts made me dream of tossing beautiful flowers while walking down a row surrounded by people. Then, enhancing my thoughts further drove me to think about my wedding day and how I wanted to look beautiful. Now that I was taking part in the ceremony, I grew anxious for that special day in the upcoming summer.
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Time passed, and before I knew it, it was time to pack our bags. I asked my dad where the wedding was during this time.

“The wedding is in Ireland,” he told me. “We will take a flight to Dublin.”

This news made me more enthusiastic about this trip. The last time I went to Ireland, I was a newborn and didn’t remember anything. Unfortunately, with my happiness came nervousness. What if I couldn’t understand their accents? What if they couldn’t understand mine? I told myself I would have to learn to cope with time.

After all bags were packed and our family was prepared for a long flight, our minivan silently left our driveway on its way to the Newark Airport. Following the uneventful drive, we entered the huge, terrifying building called an airport. It looked as if everyone in New Jersey was packed into one establishment. My mom told me that we would have to wait in line to get plane tickets and to check in our bags before boarding our flight.

Soon enough, our family strolled down a long tube that connected to the plane. As the plane took off, my ears popped and my stomach dropped. I was eager to walk off that plane in a different country.

Finally, the captain told his passengers that our plane had landed successfully in Ireland, and we could depart from our plane. I took a glance around at my surroundings and realized that Ireland was beautiful.

Inside the new airport, we found my dad’s cousin waiting for us outside our terminal. He introduced himself as Tommy and his wife was named Maeve. They said that until after the wedding, our family would stay in their house with them.

I desperately wanted to leave the airport and travel through this unfamiliar place. Before long, we all packed into their car. I was confused as in Europe, cars traveled on the opposite side of the road. After discussing our plans to travel, we pulled into a driveway of a small house. It looked normal, but its settings were not common to what I was used to. Green fields were practically on every side of the