We celebrated my daughter and future son-in-law this past week as we officially kicked off wedding season. They are getting married in March, Easter weekend actually. I’m sure you can imagine our joy and excitement. We have been friends and fellow church members with his family for years, so we already have a really good relationship. We joke that I loved him before my daughter did. This season of watching our daughter falling in love and planning a future has been interesting.
I have been reminded of the days over thirty years ago when I first met my husband. He is a race car driver, and we met at a race track. Fun fact: the same place my parents had met twenty years earlier. I remember the night we met so well. We were dating other people and had a passing introduction, barely even looking at each other. A couple of months later we happened to be amongst friends again and chatted for a bit. I don’t remember anything about the brief conversation but remember that I was drawn to him. We ran into each other once more a few weeks later, both fresh off those relationships we were in at our first meeting. He asked me to grab a bite to eat after the race that night. Well, the rest, as they say, is history.
I wish I could remember what we talked about in those early meetings, but time steals those things away. What time cannot take away are the feelings I felt on those occasions. Anticipation every time the phone rang (remember we didn’t have phones that told us who was calling). Excitement when I answered and heard his casual, southern “Hey” on the other end. Disappointment when I had to leave and drive back to the town where I lived at the time. (We lived two hours apart.) The gradual move from attraction to affection to love. Dating, engagement, marriage.
I loved seeing the light turn on in my daughter when she saw “M.” I mean really saw him for the first time. I have often wondered if my parents felt like this when they saw me falling in love. As much as I loved falling and being in love with their dad, seeing my children with the one God made specifically for them is overwhelmingly amazing. All of you moms and dads know the truth in what I am saying. Being a witness to God’s hand in the lives of your children is the most precious gift we can receive as parents.
As wonderful as it was to watch “M” and “P” as we celebrated them last week, one scene from that day brings tears to my eyes as I type. My sweet husband stopped me as we were walking in, looked at me and in a serious tone said, “Enjoy yourself today.” So, I did. I chatted with friends and fought back a few emotional tears. While I was talking with one group of ladies I glanced over at him. Y’all, he took my breath away. He watched with such intensity as our daughter looked at her fiancé with admiration and love, laughing at a secret comment he made. Smiling and acknowledging each person as they opened the gift they had given. In the split second it took for me to blink back a tear, I noticed he had taken out his phone to snap a quick picture. “That man is so precious,” I said to the ladies beside me. And he is!!!
We haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. Every year has not been filled with excitement and joy. We have had our fair, and sometimes what felt like unfair, share of trials. We have gone days without speaking to each other. Left home without the, “I Love You” being spoken. Cried, raised our voices, walked away from each other knowing we had caused pain. But through it all we stood together, not giving up. Loving each other through times of celebration, loss, joy, and tears.
As I watched my husband watch our daughter, the years began to fall away. His thinning hair became its original thick, lush shade of dark brown. The slight wrinkles around his eyes were filled in. The worried look of running his own business faded from his eyes, replaced by delight in his girl. He leaned forward a little, with those long legs crossed the way I remember him sitting on our second meeting. With every year that fell away I saw the young man that promised to love and cherish me for the rest of his life. The dad that stood staring in a window at a little baby born a bit too soon. The provider that has spent his life taking care of his family. I was in awe of this man that I glimpsed across the room, and I fell in love with him again just as I have many times over the last thirty three years. Through every season of life, every trial, every heartache, God reminds me how much thought HE put into the man HE created for me. I am so thankful for that moment in time that reminded me of His goodness to me.
In the busyness of life, never forget to take a look at your love and remember back to the beginning. I can guarantee that your breath will catch, and your heart will skip a beat. As you catch your breath and your heart rhythm picks back up, thank God for designing THIS person specifically for you. HE alone knew what you would need. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a special month or day to remember the love we share and the life we’ve made. I just need the occasional glance across the room.
Written by: Betty Ann NeSmith. Betty Ann lives in Boston, GA with her husband, Payton.
