A Defining Moment..

Saturday afternoon my niece got married. I got to see her before the wedding in her 'waiting' room - she was just beautiful standing there in her white gown. I asked her where her 'something old, something new, something borrowed..' was. She proudly showed me a gorgeous jewelry set that my brother (her father) gave her. She had the 'blue'. I asked for a piece of ribbon and a safety pin. As she stood there in front of me, I slipped off my Mother's wedding band, tied a ribbon around it, and pinned in to the inside of her dress. That ring symbolized 50 years of marriage: through richer and poorer, sickness and in health, until death. It was fitting that my Niece take Mom's ring with her as she pledges the promises that my Mom promised my Dad and lived by until her last breath.

The tears flowed from the waiting room all the way through the ceremony. It was a bittersweet occasion. The celebration of marriage was touched by sadness as the absence of our Mom & Dad/Grandparents, was felt by all of my family members. Some of us cried to see the 'chairs' with Dad's hat and magnolia's (Mom's favorite), we laughed when we realized Niece was chewing gum during her wedding, we sat in astonishment when we thought the Groom was going to pass out (we really did!) but he recovered, then we all cried when the groom became so overwhelmed with love for my Niece that he barely got his vows out amid tears, then we all cried again through the family pictures.

It was a beautiful event and one of many such events where we will be blatantly aware that Mom & Dad are gone. We have the holiday's coming up (our first without them) and then the mark of their deaths. Lord help us as we try and get through this time of year! I may have to throw some Xanax in the Thanksgiving dressing!!

I do know that I am closer to my family than I've ever been in my life - I am so grateful for this! It took our parents dying to draw us closer together and unified. We are the living legacies of an amazing marriage. We are our parents' children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. We will carry them with us always. We are the Blockers!

Love, Peace & Hold on tight to your loved ones! Cherish each and every second!