Her name is Ashleigh Zimmerman. She's on the left. The grinning man on her right gets to be married to her. His name is Mohammed AbuJayyab. But we call him Mo. You might be able to as well, if you play your cards right.
There are lots of reasons that Ashleigh is my Maid of Honor. One is that she's one of my oldest friends. Another is that she is a fierce advocate for the best in people and, as your friend, will never, ever let you settle for anything less than being completely true to yourself and the things you most believe in. Also, she rear-ended a fire truck once.
Here are some things you should talk to Ashleigh about, that you may not know (she may also be too humble/embarrassed to mention these things herself, which is what I'm here for):
- She works for a non-profit called Seeds of Peace, which works toward Palestinian/Israeli understanding through youth programs, including a summer camp in Maine.
- Ashleigh is not Jewish. I know, Zimmerman, right??
- She was recently asked to speak at the UN. If you ask her about this, she will make it sound like a much smaller deal than it was.
- She likes to dip french fries in Ranch dressing.
- She thinks she was in a cult once.
- Our Sophomore year geometry teacher called us 'urchins' once in class. This motivated Ashleigh to do better. It motivated me to call this woman as many names as I could without getting expelled. This is why my dad once told me that I could "learn a lot from Ashleigh's work ethic." As with most things, he was right - and I did.
(I have no idea whose baby this is - I don't think she stole it.)
There you have it. A primer on our lovely, intelligent, phonically challenged Maid of Honor. I love her like crazy. I know you will too.
