SHEILA M. BUCK
M A T R O N • O F • H O N O R
Though she's technically an "aunt", Charisse dotingly refers to Sheila as her "Ate" (Filipino for "big sister," pronounced "ah-teh") .
If you know the bride, you know that she's a sorority girl through and through. Truth be told, because of Sheila, Charisse assumed the sorority girl path eons before she was ever actually a college girl. Moreso, before she was even in highschool! Translation: A sister of AO∏ at UC San Diego, the 'oh-so-cool' Sheila brought her 8th grade neice, Charisse, to her 1st ever 'frat party'. Going back further into Sheila/Charisse history: for as long as the bride-to-be could remember, everything that Sheila was (smart, pretty, popular, trendy, funny, etc...) Charisse wanted to be, and everything Sheila did (graduate HS, go to College, become a Derby Darling, graduate College, get a cool job, meet the man of her dreams, get married...), Charisse wanted to do.
Ever the awesome role model, Sheila helped Charisse figure out the perfect thing to wear to all her dances (often generously opening up her closet as a private Charisse free-for-all), took her to all the cool movies and "things to do" that the popular kids were going to, and tutored her -- not only in the bestest music of our generation (seriously, ask Sheila about her GreenDay demo CDs from their coffeehouse sets!!!) but also helped her mow through the pre-calc homework and AP reading lists that got her into college (beauty *and* brains for sure)... with that said, in addition to lending a cute cardigan, or a mini-babydoll here and there, Sheila always had time to lend an ear for Charisse to gush over all her drama, or boys who were buzzing around, or how she thought she should cut her hair.
When the couple first began dating, and Charisse realized she was a bit in over her head with Vinh's Trojans, Sheila patiently held an intensive crash course with Charisse to explain "football" having trodden that path herself just a few years before, with her own husband. But that's just how it's always been - Sheila does something and Charisse wants to follow on along! Ate Sheila was even there to provide counsel in one of the biggest decisions Charisse had in her young adulthood: which Sorority bid to accept. Great choice indeed -- had the Kappas not been in Vegas that fateful summer day, Vinh and Charisse might have never met! Charisse is honored to have someone she's looked up to for so long stand with her on her big day.