Weddingbee boards

I am open to suggestions-----remember,  it's a speech, not an essay---so the sentences might not be perfect, but it needs to sound natural, not overly rehearsed.  

But tell me what I should change, or if its creepy.

" A good friend of mine, who unfortunately could not be here today, reminded me of a time about fifteen years ago when I was in school.  My teacher gave us the generic assignment of writing a paper starting with: “When I grow up, I want to be…..”.   Most kids wrote that they wanted to be a doctor, or that they wanted to be rich. 

Now… it’s safe to say that I probably won’t be a doctor….but if I had, would that have been enough?  Maybe one day we’ll be rich…and if we are…will that really be enough?  It made me wonder: “what’s enough? What can I be when I grow up that will be enough?”  There was only word that covered all the bases.  One word that I felt confident in.  One word that, if I had nothing else, I would still be okay.  That word was “happy”.  When I grow up, I want to be….happy.   

So today, here I am.  Fairly grown up….and incredibly happy.  And for that, I want to thank my parents, my beautiful sister, my three best friends, my mother-in-law, and most importantly, my husband.  Rob,  thank you for making my life a wonderful one.  Thank for making my hope of happiness a reality. 

((next part said by either me, or FI))

As we look across the room, there is not one face that we don’t know.  Not one face that we could ever forget.  It is incredible to be surrounded by all of our friends and family as we celebrate our marriage.   Most of you have travelled quite a distance to be here---From New Hampshire to California, and from Texas to Wisconsin.   You have literally travelled from every corner of the country to be here today.  But ultimately, whether you flew, drove or just walked to be here….we thank you.  Throughout the evening we hope to touch base with each and every one of you…but if we somehow miss you, please know that we’re grateful that you came. 

@mishelleez: hahahah i'm not happy they came.   perhaps I should start my speehc with a disclaimer:   "The following speech pertains to everyone but YOU and YOU."

Thanks for the feedback guys-----as I continue to read it aloud, I am making a few minor changes to make it "flow" best...but I'm happpy with it!