Joy To The World

JOY TO THE WORLD

I remember my wedding day. It presented so many challenges. My parents had just completed an acrimonious divorce. We chose the traditional liturgy ….and it asked “whom is this woman given in matrimony?" My brother walked me down the aisle. He said "her parents and I do.” It was perfect then. It still is. Bill has been my lover, my protector, my chief in-house comforter for over 30 years. We were going to renew our vows this year at a wedding chapel in Gatlinburg, TN, then go through Cades Cove, one of our favorite places in the mountains.

It was a wonderful dream. But it didn't happen this year. My mother died the weekend before we would exchange vows. She would have loved it. But she was secure in the knowledge that Bill has taken care of me all these years....and will continue. It is our path, together.

We all imagine what our path will be when we combine our lives together. We imagined all happiness. I imagined that both my parents would hold my infant in their arms, as they were baptised into our faith. It never happened. The sorrow of my life.

But God gives us other joys. When one door closes, another opens. More doors have closed than have opened for me the last few years. MS has been a cruel master. Changing every dream that either one of us thought might happen.

Then a small fifty pound dog named Jet opened those doors again. For three years he was fearless. Till cancer took him from me in this life. A successor dog, Frax, stepped in. He wasn't Jet. But he opened doors in his own way. In May, he will be nine years old. Where did the time go?

This year has been particularly brutal. My sister lost her husband Christmas Eve Day last year. Hard to believe it's been a year already. Her courage takes my breath away. She sold their home...she has gone through his things. She faces walking her path alone now, not with the love of her life.

. Just another door.

What's behind the door?