My decision to walk myself down the aisle, I realize, is a rather unique one. Many people may be asking themselves "Why?" and I must respond "It was the only logical thing to do." My family situation is too complicated. Who would "give me away?" My biological father? He and my mother divorced when I was too young to remember. My step-father? I felt like I had been raised by the time he and my mother married when I was eleven (I was a very grown-up little girl). My mother? True, she was my main parental figure, but she is also the life partner of my step-dad and I wanted to emphasize that unity by having them ushered in together. My brother? My grandfather? One of my uncles? All of them had played important roles in my development but none of them was prominent enough to chose one over the other. Besides, I was not being given away! Getting married was my choice! Who I married was my choice! Why hang on to old traditions when they cease to have any meaning for you (and might in fact make things more uncomfortable)? So you see, the choice was not so much that as an understanding, after evaluating my familial situation and values, that this was the only thing I could do and still remain honest and true with my family and myself.