0 days to go
"Get ready to fly...I am, I am"
So went the tune of my cell phone which has the "Phenomenal" AJ Styles' entrance theme as my wake up alarm sound.
As yours truly sluggishly rolled over to shut it off, it finally dawned on me that today is the day it all begins to come to an end.
For the countdown is on zero.
The road is over.
And Wrestlemania, well, no more hype, we go live tomorrow, baby!
As I gathered my things to prepare for a road trip to Syracuse, a specific feeling of a journey fulfilled came over me. As I stated, this has never been about 9.24 per say, but it sure is a nice way to cap off the journey.
This unity road was about my tag team partner and I growing together. And as I drove past that sign that stated "City of Syracuse", I knew we had finally arrived. As individuals. As a couple. And as a unit.
It's a feeling that is indescribable as I write this.
Yet as I arrived to the beautiful structure that is St. Joseph's church in Camillus, NY, and I entered as the last piece to the rehearsal puzzle, the sight of everyone's faces that have in some way helped my tag team partner and I get us to this point was yet another fullfilling feeling.
That goes without mentioning the continued faces that arrived every hour or so later at the Hotel.
It's an amazing feeling.
And as I sit here in my lonely hotel room technically a married man (as the license has been signed), I'm trying to capture the moment and feeling in words before 9.24 occurs, and I just keep coming back to that same word - fulfilled.
As much as I'm asked about being nervous over the last 72 hours, fulfilled is the true feeling of heart here.
The outpouring of love from those here, and even from those who were unable to make it, surely added to the feeling.
The voicemails, text messages, and Facebook messages allowed me to take a step back and really wonder ponder, how great of an impact we must have on others. And for you DP devotees, you know how hard it is for me to accept such appraisal of myself. But on a night like tonight, it is truly undeniable.
None as evident as a text I receive from my cousin who stated the following in a text:
"Congrats on your big day tomorrow, and I am sorry I will not be there. However, if I was there I would say how proud I am of you for emulating to your baby cousin that real men still exist out there and commitment and love is not a thing of the past. I know we don't talk often, but I do look up to you and I'm uber proud of you for taking such a step. I think you are an amazing man and will be just as amazing as a husband. I wish you all the best and I love you a lot...I hope one day I'm lucky to find a man as strong as you are in heart, mind, and soul."
Wow. Yes, I know.
9.23 is now over. and 9.24, the 9.24 is set to begin. And while only a handful of the 110-plus expected to attend tomorrow's festivities were present tonight, I am already in awe. I am already amazed. I am already fullfilled.
And somehow, I keep coming back 1 Corinthians 2:9 on this entire journey - For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart has imagined what God has for those that love him.
Never, ever, saw this coming.
Completely fulfilled.