I have friends whose only daughter will marry this weekend. It is an exciting time for them to see the months of planning, the months of work and consideration come to fruition. Family and friends will gather from near and far and celebrate the big event. And isn’t that what these mile markers in life are about—celebrating, looking to the future, renewing hope that something good is happening?
For all the planning and for all the merriment, it would be nice to pause. To take a moment to linger in the parade of excitement and festivities. In that lingering, it would be nice to capture how life marking events can be special in the moment as well as in the memory. For it is in those moments seeds take root. And, they do remain.
Weddings always take you for a trip down memory lane. My wedding was a fun, boisterous affair. I remember many wonderful things and many wonderful friends. But today, I remember most of all the few minutes my mother and I spent together, getting ready to head to the church when she hugged me and and held me longer than usual. “I know it’s going to be wonderful.” I don’t know now if she meant the wedding, the marriage, or something else. What I do know is the wonderful was the moment I was still just a daughter and she was still just a mother, and we lingered.