The Night Before My Wedding, My Parents Cut My Wedding

graceful left for them to go. The deputies stand near the back. Hannah takes her place beside my maid of honor, still holding her legal folder like a bouquet.

Then the wedding begins.

I walk the rest of the aisle not in lace, but in uniform. The ribbons on my chest are not decoration. They are years. Names. Missions. Rooms where I had to be sharper than continue reading …