Joey would answer, "We aren't lucky; we're blessed." And then with great humility he would add, "You married me, that's how."
I remember sun-filled beaches and playing the alphabet game waiting in line for the Rockin-Roller Coaster. I remember relentless whiffle ball games in the front yard. Before and after the kids could drive, I remember family game nights where we taught the kids how to play poker and ganged up on Wade when we suspicioned he was bluffing. Joey and the kids would quote movie lines to no end, and summers were filled with sunshine at Boo and Robert's pool and hikes in Grammie and Dub's mountains. We KNEW we were happy. We knew we held a piece of heaven and the abundant life described in John 10.
I thought about this driving throughout the hills of Alabama tonight and watching the sun kiss the tops of the trees a golden goodnight. I had fought tears all day, unable to allow new surroundings and the boys' excitement to divert my thoughts. I told a friend at her well-wishing that I "would just look for the light..." Then Joey's iPod switched songs and Nickelback began to preach as the light from a setting sun cast a warm glow on the hillsides...
Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you'll never live it twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life.
Taylor loved Nickelback, just like her daddy. The music is loud and the drum beat defiant and domineering. The songs would play and their voices would rise above the music, their hands and bodies creating an air-band in sync with each other. Happy came so easy
We still have happy, but we pack it around the sadness that we carry. Like I remember, instinctively, the lyrics to our favorite songs, I remember KNOWING we were happy, being grateful for happy in the moment, and thanking my Joey for choosing me and making two amazing children.
He would kiss my hand, my face, and let me rest my head on his shoulder; From the back seat two sarcastic voices would rise, "They're kissing again."
"Ya'll are sick. Get a room."
#golighttheworld