Electricity That's Real

I haven't had a work day since the 4th (my dad's birthday) due to mt mom getting married on the 11th (absolutely fantastic!) and another weekend spent at a retreat looking into my faith and what God is asking of me. I could go on and tell you about the work during the week on the floor in the laundry room and how it's taken 4 nights to complete as opposed to the 2 nights it should have taken, but I'm sure we all don't need that downer. Although I'll show you the pics because it's another notch in the tiling ability belt.

Instead, let's focus on some things that have come to be a bigger impact on me than I thought would or could have. First is the addition of a handful of new family members to the O'Bannon clan. Over the past 12 months ALL FOUR members of my family (2 sisters, brother and mother) have gotten married. Interestingly enough all have met the life partners online - don't know what the says, but it's a fact. I'd like to think that it means we are in a changing society and that this tool which I use to tell my story is also growing to become a social tool for long term relationships as well as looking up random information on a search engine.

My mom waited for her date for many reasons, not the least of which were to be after the others in the family. A further example that she has always put her children first. Another is that she and her new husband Greg wanted a smaller, more intimate setting as it fit their stage in life better. It turned out to be a fantastic day weather-wise and a truly beautiful ceremony.

It's not too often that a child gets to see the union of their parent in matrimony. I have struggled somewhat over the past few months with my future stepfather, not because of one reason or another due to his lacking, rather I think it was because of my wanting my father in the role of my mom's husband more than anything else. Although my siblings and I have many times discussed how we all wished Mom would find happiness and we all admitted that it would be tough for many reasons when that did happen, I never realized how or to what extent that difficulty would be for me. I'm not saying that Greg is replacing my dad, or that he even wants to - or that anyone thinks that's possible, but he is taking a role in the family that was for many years my father's (and even in some ways was mine) and now must be changed to be owned by Greg. It's a tricky business of melding two families together that are fully grown, have their own rhythms and have defined roles for everyone already in place. To have new roles or new places to fill is an adjustment that takes work and takes opening the mind to accept.

At the end of the day I saw my mom happy again. Not just 'oh the Vikings just won' happy, but 'a glow from the heart, eyes twinkle like they haven't for over a decade, cheeks are rosy from constant smiling' happy. My heart was full for her and Greg. I know my father was watching closely. He'd be happy to know that my mom is being taken care of and that she has someone to take care of as well. As I stood near the back of the line during the ceremony holding Ellie, I noticed again what it's like to see the electricity between two people that cannot be interrupted.

That made me happy.