We went to my cousin's wedding this past weekend and it was on the East Coast. It was beautiful. New Hampshire. Atlantic Ocean. Country club, tent, open bar, harvest moon. Really a magical night. It was so amazing because my cousin has been through sooo much in his life. He lost his dad, my uncle, when he was only 10 or so to suicide. I love my uncle and my aunt so much, and I miss my uncle a lot. He is my dad's brother. During the mass the priest talked about how in life we have all these expectations. He said the moment you two were born your parents looked at you, held you, and those expectations were so fresh. They expected to hold you, for you to cry, for you to learn and grow. ( I about lost it because all I could think about was my aunt and how she probably thought of her husband who is now gone.)
Anyways. It was magical. My aunt was beaming all night long. My aunt now has a fiance who is AMAZING! He is so sweet and loves her as she deserves to be loved and treated. So after all these years. After everything was basically torn from my cousin and Aunt's life, there is beauty again and hope. We could never have predicted how things would turn out with them. And it's not over for sure. But it was so beautiful. So beautiful. I left the East coast after that wedding with a sense of hope. A sense of hope that all things that happen to us do not define us. It's how we persevere and keep on living and adding to the good in life that matters.
So as I flew across the country back to the West coast. I also realized that I love the pacific ocean. Well I love any ocean, but particularly the pacific. I love that the sun sets in the West. That the surf is good here, that my home is here, and mostly that for a moment in time all is how it should be in the world. For that I am extremely grateful to God.
