Zeke is spending his summer in the deep South. He is living and working in the heart of West Jackson, Mississippi. (Fred, isn't that the part of town you warned him to stay out of?) I think he is loving it!

He is working as an intern at Voice of Calvary Ministries, helping with their Summer Youth Program. They do school work enrichment and also take field trips and fun stuff. After work every day the kids insist he play football with them, so this soccer player plays football in the deepest Mississippi heat and goes home hot and drenched in sweat and happy.

He's living in a house with 5 other interns. They have no internet service and often spend their evenings sitting on the front porch. They are getting to know their neighbors and he says all the neighborhood kids from 5 to 20 years old come on over to inspect the white kids living in their midst. The little kids all want to feel his soft blond curls and he lets them... gets a kick out of it.

One Friday in mid-June he drove 9 hours to be in a friend's wedding, then turned around and drove back Sunday morning. Angus and I met up with him on Saturday just in time to see him all decked out in a fancy tux, he had not gotten his hair cut, but it was so good to see him.

He was a Groomsmen, also played guitar and sang. It was a lovely wedding and we visited with him a bit at the reception but there was so little time!It had only been a month since I had seen him but he had already changed and grown. A friend once told me when your child goes away to college it's like getting to know someone new every time you meet up again. She was right. It seems they change as much as they did when they were babies, only now it is in a less predictable pattern but every bit as fascinating!

Saturday was Zeke's birthday and I spread the word among his friends and relatives. Having a summer birthday, he's spent many of them away from home on family vacations , at Camp Galilee, at a soccer tourney in Minnesota and at the Sonshine Festival. But always he'd been with people who knew it was his birthday. I doubted if he'd even care if no one knew about it but I thought it would be cool if he got a bunch of cards on his day.

He did! He called on the Friday before and asked me if I think he is 7 years old? I laughed as I could hear the pleasure and joy in his voice behind the mock disgust. He'd already gotten the gift we sent and several cards, one with five bucks in it. (Remember when it was a thrill to get $5?)

He had to work Saturday morning at a Youth Rally in the park. It was his second one and he already knew it would be a fun day. A TV crew showed up and was taping and he made it on the WLBT TV News that evening!

His GrammaJo ordered a cheese cake at the Broad Street Bakery in Jackson(found on the internet) and all he had to do was go pick it up. He's not much for cake so we always have cheesecake on his birthday. Bet he didn't expect it this year. Surprise! He shared it with his new friends that evening.

A good kid. A good day. A good life.

Sometimes I think God gave us husbands so we will keep perspective in our lives.

This morning I read Swampwitch's post about being the mother of the bride and some of her personal horrors as she prepares for the wedding. This excerpt made me laugh out loud. This is she talking to her really empathetic husband:

"Can you see my zit?"
"Not if you put your hand over your nose or if I shut my eyes."

I love it.

Her drama with getting sick before the wedding and everything else that was not going right brought back my son's wedding to me. It was three yeats ago.

I needed a just-right dress. I thought it would be easy but I was oh-so-wrong! It was about a week before the wedding and I still didn't have it. Everything I could find was either spaghetti-strap prom, matronly or beaded/glittery. I am none of the above. Oh, yeah, and it had to be a color that at least didn't clash with the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride. AND it had to fit my weird skinny-limbs-broad-shoulders-big-butt figure. Where were other women finding those gorgeous dresses? I hate shopping for clothes anyway and I found myself shopping for hours on end.

That's bad... because when I shop and don't find what I want, well, I settle. I start seeing possibilities in things. I found a dress that I thought would do. It was a blue similar to the mother of the bride's dress, which she was making herself, by the way. It was big but it wasn't shiny or fancy, which neither am I. ...it had possibilities.

It was way too big, even for my backside, although fit pretty well at the shoulders. It just hung on me. Guess what? I bought it anyway. I decided my mom could alter it for me and she agreed to do it.

Kevin's girlfriend convinced me to go to her salon for my hair cut. She was also a "Colorist". I should have run. I have never colored my hair before other than highlights which I do myself. She said we needed to get rid of the gray (hey, it's in the back, I can't see it!) and "even it out a bit." (she didn't like my highlights!) She gave me a nice "caramel" color, a lighter shade than my natural color and add some lighter streaks. "Okay, you're the expert." ...famous last words. It came out blah, blah, blah, plain.

After a couple of hours of that, and it all cost more than my dress, I just wanted to get out of there! Shoe shopping time. I found a nice pair of pointy sling-backs and bought them. In the process I lost my credit card (or was it stolen?) which, being that I use it so seldom, I didn't notice 'til I got ready to pay for the kids' honeymoon suite several days later and it was gone. But someone had "found" it and had been on a little buying spree. The guy at the credit card company was gentle when he told me this but I just burst into tears anyway. He must be accustomed to this response because he comforted me and told me to take some deep breaths and that it would all be okay. (It was)

Two days before the wedding I woke up feeling kinda nauseous... the day my mom was going to take in and hem up my dress. When I got out of bed I literally could not walk, the room was spinning. I was sure I had some disease and was going to miss my firstborn's wedding. If I lay perfectly still I was fine but any movement left me nauseated and dizzy. The doctor squeezed me in and decided I had some kind of virus that messed with my inner ear. He got me some medicine and life was good again. But the day was wasted and my dress did not get altered.

Anyway, I had to keep it all in perspective, after all the wedding wasn't all about me. Angus said I looked "fine" which is guy-speak for "get over yourself". I doubted anyone would even notice me and I was so flippin' busy I didn't really give it much thought. Until the photos came back.

Here is a snapshot of boring me taken an hour before the wedding with the mother of the bride. Still in my flip-flops and see how my lipstick makes my lips disappear? I am a hopeless cause, I think.

The good news is - the bride was beautiful. My son was wonderful. The wedding was spiritual. The reception was fun and I fell in love with my husband all over again. Who cares that I was wearing a blue potato sack?

+++++

Phillipians 4:11 ~ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Our Wedding Day

Our anniversary
August 26th, 1976, was a typical hot August day that brewed up a thunderstorm. Looking back I think how appropriate that beginning was, indicative of the what happens when you bring together two people who are so very different. We started out hot, then things got stormy then it all settled down when we finally focused on each other.

I was worried about the rain. My little sister finally quit trying to light the candles with all the wind blowing and the guitar music my sister-in-law so lovingly strummed was totally lost on the wind. The minister's hair was blowing straight up and I could see the lightning approaching in the distance behind him.
But then Angus took my hand in his and began to gently slide the handmade wedding ring onto my finger. It resisted but he gently and steadily worked it on as he gazed into my eyes. I forgot everything else and I couldn't take my eyes away from his.

It's been a wild ride for sure, sometimes bumpy, sometimes smooth. Up and down and winding all around. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to get off but I never, ever open that door.

Today I came home from a meeting and I was hungry, digging in the fridge for something to eat. He offered to make me his hashbrown and egg skillet meal. He didn't have to. He wasn't hungry and the kids weren't around. He did it just for me. He speaks his love for me in his actions. Sometimes...usually, I don't even notice. But tonight I was listening.

I've learned that it is always better to pay attention but it's not always easy. The lessons continue... hopefully for another 28 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{A year ago... my similar thoughts}

It had clouded up and there was a cool, gentle breeze. It was evening, not dark yet but the crickets had already begun their singing. The girls playing the violins were nervous but played wonderfully. The huge trees with their branches swaying in the breeze and sprinkled with tiny white lights appeared to be dancing to the sweet music.

The wedding party paraded through the grass, barefoot, to their places at the front of the seated guests. The ring bearer ran to keep up and left the confused flower girl behind as she reached into her basket for white pedals to toss. She took her job seriously. The bride was beaming with beauty, as all brides are. The groom proudly waited for her to join him...forever.

We sat together near the back and I wondered if he was remembering too. Going back to the place 27 years ago when the beautiful hot August day had whipped up a summer thunderstorm on our wedding day. The guests were all seated, the candles lining the path were lightedand we were lined up at the back ready to begin...when the drops began to sprinkle down. The guests looked at each other...what to do? Angus' sister with her baby stood up to leave. Some of the other guests began to follow suit. I started to cry. The wind was whipped up but the rain held off and my Dad just said , "Let's go!"... and we did.

The guitar music was carried off by the wind. My little sister finally gave up trying to light the candles, disapponted. The minister's hair was blowing straight back, the ribbon in my hair whipping around. I saw lightning in the distance behind him. Everything around suggested the storm was approaching fast and all of my wonderful plans were scattered. But there was Angus, gazing into my eyes, gently trying to slide on the ring that didn't want to go on. Patiently twisting it as he smiled into my eyes and calmed me and everything else was suddenly gone. The wind, the guests, the approaching storm. Just Angus holding both my hands and looking not at all nervous or worried....just being there for me with his strength and not having to say any words at all yet telling me that it was all good. It was all right. and it was.