I DID SOMETHING I SHOULDN’T HAVE
Within the past few days I did something I shouldn’t have. And I did it not once, but twice. “Shame on me,” you think? Well really, I guess a bit of correction to that statement might be in order. I had the privilege and honor to do something that someone else should have had the opportunity to do, not me. I took part in my great nephew’s wedding, my brother’s grandson; and one week later I performed a wedding of a good friend’s granddaughter. Both my brother and good friend are deceased, and thus I was given the opportunity. An opportunity I welcomed and felt honored to be asked to do, yet the thought never left me, “They should be here, here where I am standing. They should be in this role, not me.”
A wedding is a time of happiness, excitement, beautiful brides and handsome grooms; not sadness. Both of these brides, Erica and Ashlee were and truly are beautiful, and the grooms, Adam and Dan, are certainly handsome young men. As I sat in the audience prior to taking part in my nephew’s wedding ceremony, I could not help but think back over the years. Nearly forty-six years after my brother’s passing, I see his children, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and other relatives. I think if he were only here to enjoy the happiness of the day. He should be the one sitting next to his wife and taking his role in the marriage of his grandson. Or thinking of my good friend and his granddaughter; thirty-two years ago my wife and I sat in a church in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. I watched as my friend walked his daughter down an aisle and gave her hand in marriage. Now the bride’s father stood in front of me giving his daughter in marriage. And as I began my part of the ceremony I thought how Ashlee’s grandfather should have been standing where I stood.
Keep on,
Larry Adamson