Wild Ride

"Trust God and do the next thing." -- Oswald Chambers


Life has been a bit on the crazy side lately. The ups and downs have jumbled together into a wild ride.

Friday we spent all day at the church decorating for the wedding. The rehearsal that evening went well. Dinner was fabulous! (Thanks, parents of the groom!)

My husband ran home to change between work and rehearsal and accidentally left his phone at home. We decided later it was no accident, but rather God was sparing us that evening.

When we got home, my husband discovered he had a message from his brother. His mother had passed away that day. A friend had called Mom and didn't get an answer, so she checked Mom's house. She found Mom sitting in her favorite chair in front of the TV. She may have drifted to sleep and not woken up. We'll never know exactly, this side of heaven.

My husband's brother and sister had headed to Oklahoma that evening to take care of details. But we had a wedding to put on. After I was given the news, I knew I had to tell the kids. I called them all together and broke the news. I hated to upset everyone before the wedding, but they had to know. My older son's girlfriend, who was staying with us, was a great comfort to my younger son.

The next morning, although a bit numb, we began the wedding preparations. The girls got together in the morning to do makeup and hair. After having an emotional morning, I joined them around noon. Once we got in the swing of preparations, we focused on rejoicing with the bride and groom.

The afternoon ceremony was absolutely beautiful! Thanks to lots of creative friends, the church was lovely! My older son's girlfriend was escorted in place of Mom, and she placed a white rose in Mom's chair. Everything went smoothly and pretty much as planned. The only faux pas was almost forgetting the unity candle. But after a laugh, that was forgotten. The reception was fun and memorable. We finally had to shut it down about 7 PM!

After LOTS of cleaning and undecorating (with lots of help from friends and relatives), we left the church around 9 PM. We decided to wait until Monday to go up to Oklahoma. That gave us a day to regroup, do laundry, and get ready for the next thing.

Sunday morning we attended the worship service. Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed dinner with both brothers and families, as well as the bride and groom! In the evening, we attended a wonderful concert featuring two guitarists with a very different style: Rhett Butler and Billy McLaughlin. We marveled together at the talent of these two men! My younger son became a favorite fan in no time, getting a tour of the bus and making friends with the crew.

Monday morning we packed and prepared to drive to Oklahoma. We left around noon and arrived to find my husband's sister, with her friend, and his brother, with his wife and daughter. Over the next few days, the siblings made final plans and started the long task of sorting through belongings. We only made a small dent, but it was a start.

After the memorial service on Wednesday, we took Mom's ashes to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. We went to several of the family's favorite camping and picnicing areas to spread her ashes in her favorite places. On Thursday afternoon, still having a lot of ashes left, we went out again to spread some more. We were blessed with several rare occurances. We saw male and female elk down by the road (usually up in the mountains) and were able to get some photos. We had a racoon family approach us at a picnic table and eat from our hands -- also a great photo op! We saw wild turkeys, buffalo, longhorns, and prairie dogs. It is rare to see so much wildlife in one day. My husband and his brother said they had only seen elk and turkeys once or twice over the many times that they had come over the years.

My younger son stayed with his aunt over the weekend while we came home. I am going to do some laundry, take care of a few things around here, and head back up on Monday. My sister-in-law will be tackling the house and the accounts and other details that couldn't be done this past week. Since I'm off for the summer, I wanted to help her with whatever I could.

My daughter and son-in-law (wow, that sounds strange!) come back tomorrow afternoon. I'll get to rejoice with them as they share honeymoon excitement. Then it will be back to the aftermath of losing someone you love.

I wonder what new dips and turns lie ahead?