How did your parents mess you up?

On My Own Terms

We spent our wedding night in a boutique hotel downtown, not the fancy five-star place my parents had originally booked, but a quirky artistic spot that suited us perfectly.

In the morning, we’d leave for our honeymoon: two weeks in Japan, exploring Tokyo and Kyoto at our own pace, making decisions together as we went along.

As I lay in bed that night, James sleeping peacefully beside me, I thought about the long journey that had brought me here.

I thought from that little girl afraid to choose a blue backpack to a woman who had planned her own wedding her way.

It hadn’t been easy, and the road had been full of unexpected turns, but I’d made it.

For the first time in my life, I was making my own choices without fear. I was living on my own terms, and it felt amazing.

I didn’t know what the future held for James and me, or for my relationship with my parents.

But I did know one thing for certain: whatever choices I made from now on would be mine. Not my parents’, not anyone else’s—mine.

And that was the greatest wedding gift of all.