A Wedding And Some Memories

Last night, I had the privilege of officiating a wedding. 

It was a beautiful ceremony--a second chance at love for both the bride and groom and a joining not only of their hearts and hands but also of their families. 

I consider it an honor to have been asked to be part of such a special occasion. In preparing for the wedding, I took a stroll down memory lane. 

You see, the bride and I were fairly close when I worked at Johnsonville. She started out as a mom in the car rider line and turned into a star volunteer and substitute who often brought me coffee to propel me through the day! She was heavily involved in the PTO and ran the book fair for a few years. She even once helped me with Harnett Off-Broadway (my biggest performance of the year) and got on stage to perform with the children! 

But then life happened. She went through a rough patch. God called me away from Johnsonville. Time passed. We didn’t see each other for years. Yet Facebook kept us connected, a message on messenger booked the wedding, and e-mail made the wedding script possible… 

Life brings many people into our lives. While some stay for the long haul, most are actively around for only a season. For years, I didn’t understand this. I mourned and grieved the fading of every friendship. Yet now I understand that most friendships appear for a purpose, to fill a practical need, to challenge us to grow, to form us into a better person, and then to let us go. Thanks to modern technology, we can keep in touch with many of those friends, though. We can follow their lives from a distance and celebrate with them in joy while mourning with them in sorrow. The care and concern can be just as real as when they were active parts of our lives, but they don’t have to remain active parts of our lives for their impact to remain profound… 

…Because memories are powerful. They are mile-markers on our journeys. They are pegs on which we hang our hats. They are the fabric that make our lives’ collages. Memories are part of our present, and memories create the space for more memories when we open ourselves to them, because memories are relationships, and relationships are what life is about.

Last night’s bride and I shared many memories. Though we hadn’t been actively involved in each other’s lives for years, those memories led her to ask me to officiate her wedding which has now added more memories to our lives and friendship. 

So let your mind wander into memory today. If your memories lead you to someone with whom you’re connected via social media, consider sending her a message to let her know she’s on your mind. You never know what spark a message might start: a new purpose, a new need met, a new challenge to grow, a new way of being…or simply a smile as you remember that mile-marker, that peg, that fabric, or that moment when you met for the very first time…