Thirty-Five

That's right. Thirty-five years ago today, at 11:30 AM to be exact, a young woman held onto her dad's arm and walked down the aisle to join the young man she would spend the rest of her life with. That day was beautiful and was filled with family, friends, and so much love. On that excessively hot, yet joyful, late June Saturday in 1991, as I excitedly thought about decorating the second-story apartment we had just rented, and the life we would be starting, thirty-five years seemed an eternity away. If I could talk to that young woman in the white satin wedding gown, however, I would tell her that thirty-five years will pass in a heartbeat. I would tell her that those years would be blissfully happy and, at times, devastatingly sorrowful. There would be unbelievable joy and heartwrenching loss. There would be apartments, houses, jobs, babies, baptisms, weddings, parties, deaths, funerals, pain, laughter, Christmas trees, and Halloween costumes. There would be cute little kittens, precious puppy dogs, and even a fish or two along the way. There would be dinners at the kitchen table, vacations to the beach, evenings on porch swings, and ice cream cones after supper.

Most importantly, I would tell her that, on that day, when she knelt before the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and prayed that she and her husband would be blessed with children, her prayer would be answered. In God's perfect timing, of course. And I would tell her that while everything else is nice, the family she and her husband have created, and the beautiful Catholic faith they shared, is by far the very best and most important thing to come of that lovely wedding day, thirty-five short years ago today. 

As my Momma always said, "Life is but a dream!"

Have a wonderful day, my friends!

Billie Jo