Listen Here, Par'ner.

I'm back. The trip that started this morning at 10:15am ended at 9pm.

My brother got married. It was beautiful. Amanda was the flower girl and did exactly what she was told to do and was an angel doing it.

My toast rocked - they laughed, I cried. We all got through it.

Kansas, despite every joke about how flat it is, was actually quite beautiful. (Little known fact about the Flint Hills area between Kansas City and Wichita - it is the WORLD's largest area of tall grass prairie. It was burned off earlier this spring to allow new growth grass to grow better so it was largely blackened. End of your geography lesson.) It is not flat like the rest of the prairie across central and northern Kansas... it is hilly and you can see cows and valleys for 20 miles in all directions. It was pretty but make no mistake... it's cowboy country.

I am so happy for my brother. It was an extremely emotional time for me. I was pretty well composed until I thought of my own wedding during the rehearsal. I again teared up during the actual wedding when my daughter, all 5 years old but looking 15 came down the isle and I thought how big the smile Cindy would have had as she watched her "big girl". I wanted to hug Amanda at the end of the isle as she stood with the bride's maids. But I didn't.

That would have been one of many future "oh, Dad" moments.