Parted in death and reunited in everlasting life

My parents married 48 years ago today.  I will always miss them, but I will never worry about them again.  I know their future is secure in Christ.  Is yours?

I remember my mom talking about marrying Dad.  They met just three months prior to saying their vows to each other.  After a fight they broke up, called everything off then reconciled and pieced it all back together in short order.  Mom also told me that she married for life, no turning back.  She learned later that Dad married with the idea in mind that they would just end it if it did not work.  I always found that interesting.  Dad came from a two parent home while Mom was raised by a single mom.  I always wondered if her exposure to the pain of divorce in extended family factored into her determination that she would wed for life and if Dad's lack of exposure to that pain left him unaware of the devastation and thus comfortable with a back out plan.

It occurred to me recently, as I talked with a widowed friend about how it's hard to find a good thing in the loss of a spouse, that my mom was raised by a widow. Mom's dad died when she was only two years old.  At the time of his death, Mom's family was living near her dad's side of the family in Mississippi. I am not sure how long they stayed, but I don't think it was long before my grandma packed her children up and moved to Indiana to be close to her side of the family.  That move changed the course of family history.  I think it unlikely that my parents would have met had my mom been raised in Mississippi.  It's still possible, I guess, since it was one of my mom's maternal aunts who introduced them, but Mom would have been a different person.  She would have had a different group of friends and may have already been committed to someone in Mississippi.

The twists and turns of life are sometimes fascinating.  I highly doubt my parents married expecting to raise six children.  While both of them loved being parents to such a big bunch, I have always been under the impression that my dad was the driving force behind choosing to have so many children.

My parents own moves changed family history as well.  While living in South Carolina, neighbors led them to Christ.  Even that played a part, I am sure, in the number of siblings I have and certainly in the faith of my family all the way down to my own children.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  My parents spend this anniversary in Heaven, and I can only guess at what they might be doing.  They may not even be aware of the date.  They have a child and two grandchildren there, and I am guessing both of them have spent some time with them.  Reunions are so precious.