Sometimes grieving is interrupted by joy. Joy so compelling unexpected and overwhelming that one can only clap hands and shout hallelujah like Pentecostal worshipers on a Sunday morning.
That is just what Laura sang, Hallellujah, standing among the tall oak trees, safely distanced from the friends and families gathered to witness the marriage of her mother, Carolyn Napier Martin, to John Norris.
Carolyn and John stood at an outdoor altar in front of the Vytex and Crape Myrtle and underneath the wide spreading limbs of the giant oak trees in her large Louisiana backyard. The cross and candles set up on a large crude quilt box made by her father, my grandfather, when he was a tall young man raising his eight children. Gathered around them were their combined children, and grandchildren, witnessing the union, not only of the two of them, but of the lives richly lived before this day.
Evidence of this richness were friends of John, who braved the pandemic to wish him happiness in his new life, coming all the way from Longview, Texas, to offer a heartfelt toast.
In spite of this being a small “country” wedding, the reception was truly grand in the way that only a friends-and-family effort can produce. Every place setting was beautiful, with all the bride’s china, crystal and sterling, augmented by that of her sisters’ collections. The meal was prepared by Carolyn, family flowers arranged by their friends, desserts prepared by aunts and friends, wine solicitously served by a friend who is an oenophile, and masked grandchildren serving as waiters.
All of the above took place under the lighting of white chandeliers with tea lights strung from oak branches. The soft lighting had been so meticulously placed by a cousin who has the skills of an event planner.
All of this is “doing,” all of this excitement, all of the celebration because my aunt/sister has begun a new life at age 75. Her mind has “shifted” from what went before — life with her beloved husband of 49 years — to the joy of a new beginning.
Thank you, Carolyn and John, for letting us be a part of it, and may God’s richest blessings follow you all the rest of your life.
One is never too old for joy.
