A coming together of two important events in our lives forced my husband and me to go in two different directions.
Fifty years ago Dr. John Cunningham, his wife, Jane Ann, and their partners began publishing a weekly newspaper, the Avalon Herald. In 1979, Art and I bought it and thus continued a newspaper connection which started for my husband as a third grader delivering newspapers in his home town of Las Cruces, N.M.
In December 1998, our first son, Dennis, and his wife, Celeste, gave birth to our first grandchildren – twins, Collin and Isabella. As children do, they grew up and graduated from high school. Together we made an extended trip down South to witness this milestone and all of the children gathered with us to cheer them on.
It was a moving event for our family because in a sense we celebrated for our missing son one more life event that he could not witness. We all felt his absence in our presence, – a feeling that we all too often recognize.
In spite of some tears, graduation was a time of joy. Now the summer of transition is over and off they go to college, but, oh, what do we do – there are two of them, and their colleges are at widely separated places. How far apart can you get from Isabella’s school in Mississippi and Collin’s in Massachusetts?
Aaron, the children’s stepfather, is in the Air Force and was unable to take time off to do the traditional college drop-off and move-in routine. So it made sense for Celeste to do the move-in with Isabella and for Art and me to go to Gordon College way up north.
The hitch began when the date was chosen for the big 50th Anniversary celebration of the Herald’s beginning. As usual I was taking one day at a time without consulting my calendar (for a calendar to work, I am told, one has to write in the date and then consult that date when other plans are made).
I went happily along looking forward to our big birthday party in the County Park and our weekend of college send-offs. Art and I are old hands at packing kids up for college, and we both felt lucky to be able to do it “just one more time.”
Meanwhile, the Herald’s birthday party planning team was absorbed in renting tents, bouncy houses and lots of food. I was absorbed in much company at home and looking forward to being at the amazing party they were planning.
Then one day the awful reality of conflicting dates hit me and I knew that I would not be a part of that event. To our great disappointment at the fork in the road, I went to college and Art went to the party. We both spent the day texting pictures back and forth.
Thank you, Cape May County, for making our 50th so special – We threw a party and ya’ll came! Life is sweet and two good things collided but above are pictures of both events, as we shared them throughout the day. I almost felt as if I were at both places.
*****
From the Bible: Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Cape May County – I believe it is time that California be returned to the indigenous people who lived there. They understood the land and the weather and built dwellings made as part of the earth and took care of the…
