All last week, the words of “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof echoed through my mind:
Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play? I don’t remember growing older; when did they? When did she get to be a beauty? When did he get to be so tall? Wasn’t it yesterday when they were small?
Our firstborn, our precious daughter, was getting married. I’ve done many weddings, but I really felt the impact of the words “leave your mother and father.”
Everything was beautiful: the bride and groom, the decorations, the banquet room where the ceremony was held. Kristi and Blake had spent a lot of time planning and preparing, and everything went off without a hitch.
Both Kristi’s birth date and wedding date were shared by “famous” people. Kristi was born on July 30, the same day and in the same hospital as the first test tube baby born in Argentina. When we stepped out of the hospital, the paparazzi started shooting pictures like crazy. Once we clarified that we weren’t the famous family, they quickly lost interest. Kristi was married on May 10, the same day as President Bush’s daughter. When I told people I was heading to Dallas for a wedding on May 10, they perked up but promptly lost interest when they realized it was not “the” wedding.
Kristi and Blake’s wedding provided a wonderful opportunity for a family reunion like none other. In addition to my immediate family (Kathryn, Sarah and Jeremy), members from both my families of origin were present. The family I grew up with were present: my adopted dad (John Holway Sr. ), brother (John Holway Jr.) and sister (Diane Dupont). My biological mother (Beverly Steichen) and sister (Monica Patrick) were also present. I had re-connected with my biological family in Nashville some five years ago, and some of my family had met them at various opportunities. It was the first time for Kristi and Blake to meet Beverly and Monica.
So it was a day of “leaving and cleaving,” a day for renewing family ties, meeting family, and being added to family. I left Dallas with a greater sense of how God joins us to one another and to himself. Every sunset is followed by sunrise. Praise God!
