So far, our new gypsy existence has proven to be fun and relaxing – mostly. There were the harrowing moments of getting the trailer pulled out of its winter spot among the trees. The night before we left we had a downpour. A truly drenching deluge that soaked the ground. Pulling the trailer out meant putting the truck into four-wheel drive, and with a prayer and a clenched jaw Karl dragged it out of sinking mud, leaving behind some deep ruts at the side of our son’s beautiful driveway.
After that, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. We arrived easily at the bed and breakfast/wedding reception venue, and what kindness we have encountered. The owners of this beautiful place at the foot of the Shenandoah Mountains welcomed us and our trailer, tucking us into a spot in the trees and allowing us to stay for a few days after the wedding so we can be tourists. (I’ll add a pitch here for the Rosebrook Inn in Stanardsville, Virginia – they rock!)
It’s funny and wonderful how people come into our lives. Amanda, the bride at this wedding, was a quiet, serious student who sat towards the front right side of my ninth grade English classroom. Within a few weeks of school’s start, I figured out she was Christian – her witness was (and is) calm and assured. She shines with Christ’s touch and exudes His love. Quietly, because as a public school teacher I had to be careful about sharing my faith, I started a conversation with this young one to let her know that I shared her love of the Lord. We became friends.
Through her high school years she’d ask me to edit papers for her once in a while. We’d meet sometimes for a chat. She left for college in Oklahoma full of excitement and fears, and we began emailing. She’d come home on breaks and we’d catch up. She graduated from there and went to Yale Divinity School. I no longer could edit papers for her, (I didn’t understand them!), but I was able to talk on the phone, email, listen, sometimes advise, but mostly pray with her and for her. She gathered up her Master’s Degree from Yale and promptly moved to Emery in Georgia for a PH.D. program. If I replay the eleven or twelve years I’ve known her, I can imagine it as a time-lapse movie of a daisy opening. Each petal unfurling to reveal more of this deep and beautiful person. (watch this and you’ll see what I mean, but don’t forget to come back and read the rest! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgNp7Ya4WoY).
So, on Saturday I watched the precious woman who calls me her ‘bonus mom’ unfurl another petal in her life and become a wife. I got to meet family and friends that she’s gathered along the way, and put names to faces, which was fun in its own rite. It was a perfect day.
