Kyle Hepp

September 30, 2007

Brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Write about a powerful feeling.

S. and I had just gotten married in a low key ceremony in a beautiful outdoor patio of a restaurant. We had 35 people attend the wedding, so we were surrounded by the people we truly loved and knew they loved us. After the (extremely short) ceremony, we all headed back to another restaurant for the reception. In Chile, it’s customary to do a “champagnazo,” which is a toast with champagne that gives all the wedding guests a chance to say something to the bride and groom if they’d like. My best friend from high school took her turn, my mom spoke, S.’s dad gave a quick speech.

And then my brother stepped into the middle of the circle. He’s a big guy, 6′ and muscular. He commanded the room’s attention. At first he pulled a couple of note cards out of his pocket but as he looked at them and cleared his throat, he quickly crumpled them up and said, “Well, I had a whole speech written down but I’m just going to wing it.” A ripple of laughter went through the crowd. And then he began in earnest:

“When I first heard that my sister had a boyfriend in Chile I wasn’t too happy, especially when I found out his name was Sebastian like in the Little Mermaid. I worried that he’d take Kyle away from us and we’d never get a chance to see her. I already missed her when she moved away from college and then she even left the country. But, as soon as I met Seba I figured out that he’s a good guy and he makes her happy, so it’s alright if they stay in Chile.

Kyle, I’ve looked up to you since I can remember. I guess since the day I was born. You’ve always been able to do everything you want to do. I know that Seba is the right guy for you because he’s going to help you achieve your dreams. Together you two can do anything.”

His voice cracked and his eyes were bright. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Even my brother was about to cry, but right at that moment the wedding organizers brought the band out. The band started playing typical Chilean music, and everyone clapped along. My brother just went right to the center of the circle and started doing his own imitation of typical latin dances-so basically he was just doing the grapevine but with some hip movement action thrown in there for good measure. Everyone was cracking up!

That was a powerful moment to me for a few reasons. First of all, I never realized that my brother really had looked up to me for his whole life. And I’m glad I didn’t know that before because I could’ve used my power for evil and not for good. And the second thing about that part of our wedding that felt so powerful to me, was the fact that even though my brother was speaking in English and half the room were Spanish speakers only, even they were crying and laughing along with him. Power is emotions transcending language barriers.