The 25th of June

 

Daddy's Miss America

I usually write something about Mother's Day and Father's day, either here or on Facebook. This year the days came so quickly that I gave myself permission not to write.


Plus I had just watched hours of movies taken when I was little and the emotions that came up were very interesting to me. 

Daddy's girl

I watched as my dad held me gently, as if his big hands would break me somehow. Then a huge grin began to take shape on his face, and I could  hear him calling me his little Miss America. I watched as he taught me to fish, as he stood ever so close when I was walking on the shores of Windy Point on Lake Travis. I remember those fishing and swimming excursions like they just happened yesterday.

A Mother's Love

Teaching me to love Lucky

So many good memories surfaced even of my Mom, who was not the easiest person to live with or be around at times. I saw this tenderness and love in her demeanor as she held me, as she played with me on the slide and how she laughed when I would laugh. Those are memories that have been clouded over for way too many years. Although we made our peace before she died, there were still things that I needed time to heal from, and I did, but seeing her in those old silent movies showed me a very vulnerable woman who wanted so bad to be a good mom and a good wife. She just didn't know how.

The hours I watched those movies were so very healing in areas I thought were already healed. I felt wanted, loved and cherished. So as Mother's Day came and went I was silently reveling in my mother's gentleness. When Father's Day came and went I was also still in that crystal clear place where my Father's unconditional acceptance of who I was (and am) encompassed me like only his love could do. For this year I thought that my tribute to them really was wrapped in and around those movies. 

That being said and done, I had a wedding to prepare for. Jeremy and Briana asked me to officiate at their 'Western Wedding.' I was so honored that they chose me to pronounce them husband and wife. The wedding ceremony in itself was easy to write, but I wanted something that would be really special for them to do that summed up their relationship. Much like a Candle ceremony or the Sand Ceremony, they needed something that just spoke out their two lives coming together. All I could think of was a Horseshoe Ceremony. I went looking for an example on line. Nothing but a website that I would have to pay to use this lady's horseshoe ceremony for only $4.99. That was not going to happen. Jeremy and Briana deserved something written just for them so I wrote one. Now, to get the horseshoes. I kept seeing them being joined together except to do that with real horseshoes would take a welder. 

I was in Hobby Lobby one day and I passed their Western displays. There, hanging on a hook were decorative horseshoes! I was elated. They were perfect right down to having holes for a small bolt to hold them together. I also wanted their names written on them, so I asked my 'Sis Tammi' if she could do that. She has excellent painting skills. They were absolutely perfect!!!!

I also wanted a special stole to wear for the ceremony and I had one that a friend had given me that had some symbol on it that I never really understood, so I found some really awesome appliques to iron on and I was ready for the big day. This was the first time I was able to perform a wedding in jeans, white blouse and boots!!! This Texas girl's heart was so full!!

The wedding was held out at Van Dickson's Ranch in Skull Valley. I never knew that the place existed or that it was so beautiful. It was the ideal venue for Jeremy and Briana, as there were horses in the stables and everything had a Western flare.

So beautiful and GREEN

 Rolling hills in the background and a perfectly green pasture (polo field) where the reception was held.

This IS NOT Jeremy and Bri's wedding, but you need to see where we three were standing for the rest of the story

Things went great during the ceremony, although I was really nervous. I think it was due to the fact that I knew them. I wanted everything to go smoothly, and it did. I had put tissues in the front of my ceremony notebook and sure enough we needed them. The sun was shining right into Briana's eyes during the whole ceremony which made her eyes water. So she needed the tissues. We had practiced Jeremy putting the horseshoes together and a couple of times he had dropped the wing nut, so I went out and found some ribbon in mint and brown so that if he dropped it during the ceremony I could tie the ribbon around them and that would suffice. He didn't drop the nut after all, so after the horseshoes were together, then Briana tied the ribbon around them. I pronounced them husband and wife and that was that!

Where the reception took place (minus the clouds!)

 

Elmer has a longhorn on his head! Way awesome!!!

I could smell some mighty fine BBQ being prepared as we went  into the tents where the reception was to be held. We visited with friends and a lot of folks came up and let me know they really appreciated the ceremony. No one noticed my little mistakes in verbiage and they loved that God was included (like I would leave that part out!). 

Elmer and JAKE with their buddies!!!

One woman came up and asked me if  I had planned what happened. I asked her what she meant, and she said that two longhorns had walked right in behind us as we stood under the tree. That's why you needed to see the photo of the couple and minister standing in the same spot we stood. I thought that was pretty cool to have those two longhorn walk past as the ceremony was underway.  I later learned that their names were Elmer and JAKE. Another synchronistic moment.

We are sitting waiting for the photo shoot to be over and were enjoying some appetizers when I noticed a dragonfly landed on one of the flowers in the vase on our table. Then just as I was about so show Marty, he saw it too, and then it flew away. Yikes, another synchronistic moment. I was thinking about what a special day it had been and now I am blessed with seeing a dragonfly when there was NO water to be found anywhere! You guys do know I LOVE dragonflies, right?

Texas BBQ!!!!

Finally it was time to eat. I had been smelling that BBQ for long enough...it was cooking in one of those awesome drums made into a smoker. We went through the line and I saw the brisket and I could have been back in Texas at that moment. There is nothing like Texas made BBQ anywhere on the face of the earth. Made me homesick. I took one bite of that brisket and it was like taking a bite of my mom's secret recipe brisket. I let the crowd die down and went to tell the guys at the pit that their BBQ was much like a taste of Texas . Low and behold one of the guys starts telling me that he grew up in LaGrange but moved to the Austin area and lived in a geodome house out by Lake Travis in the 70's.  That's when one of the other guys said he grew up in Austin, and of course the BBQ tasted Texas, because it was a Texas passed down recipe. I felt like I had this huge blast from my past blow through me. The guy who had lived in the geodome said that the dome was on Comanche Trail. I was astounded. Couldn't believe it. I was in the midst of a huge Texas Synchronistic Moment!

My parents co-owned a cabin, built by my dad and his business partner's Rowdy Yates and gosh, can't remember the other guy's name. It was on Comanche Trail. Comanche Trail goes north of 620 out to what some of us knew all too well....Hippie Hollow and on to Windy Point where the swimming was great. The photo below shows Hippie Hollow on the bottom right and Windy Point bottom left. The small black circle is where the cabin was. Talk about bringing back even more memories.

Comanche Trail on Lake Travis, Austin, TX

There's the cabin where I spent so much time in the summer with friends and family alike.

 I don't think I could have had a more glorious day if I had tried. I had woken with a level 10 migraine Saturday morning. Took my meds and stayed in bed until it was time to get ready for the wedding. The migraine was gone and the rest of the day was planned by someone much higher than I.

We stayed at the reception until the limo came to get the wedding party and I drove home wondering what all the synchronicities  meant, then it came to me like a bolt of lightning. It was the 25th of June.  The 31st anniversary of my Dad's meeting with Jesus in Heaven. I had now  lived more years without him and I had with him on earth. Very strange feeling. But know what? He made a way for me to see how much God loves me, enough to allow my Dad to give me all the Western, all the Texas signs to get through to say one more time in my ear as I lay down to sleep. 

"I love you Tad."

"I love you too, Daddy."

Good night Daddy......

As of this writing I realized another synchronistic moment happened when Briana's Dad came up to me after the wedding party had walked out from the ceremony and the family had all been escorted out  and said, "I'd be happy to escort you." What a sweet thing to do, never had that happen before. Just another reminder...Daddy's love their little girls no matter how old we get.