Celebrating - from Afar

  
 
Today is my day off.  This afternoon I enjoyed celebrating the tranquility of sitting in the sun, feeling the wind and reading a good book.   Woven into my heart though are threads of sadness, threads that are hurtful.  I am battling to keep them as celebratory threads so they do not become dark bitter ones.
 
Next weekend one of my nephews gets married.  He, and all my family, belongs to a small strict congregation, which I spent all my life in, until I left several years ago.  His future wife’s family feels that it is sinful to ever eat with someone who has left “the truth” and therefore has specified that I be prohibited from attending this wedding.
 
Can I celebrate this wedding even though I am grieving this isolation from it?
 
He is an amazing nephew.  When he was tiny his cry was so piercing and oh did he scream!  Little did we know he had a flaming ear infection.   His blond hair stood straight up and we used to call him “golliwog”!   He was less curious than his older brother and a lot more vocal. When he was 6, he and his older brother joined me on a train trip through the Rockies in winter.  They played with their toy cars together on the floor of our private sleeper, we read stories at night as the train rolled through the night.  In the morning he stood with his little fingers gripping the window ledge, nose pressed to the window as we rolled into Vancouver.   Our hosts there decided to record the boy’s conversations and one of his serious statements was that in heaven he would be wearing slippers and a nightgown. At age 8, the 3 of us traveled to Disneyland.  He was a little homesick; tired from tramping around for 3 days and when the earth shook that evening (a minor tremor) he was hysterical.  I remember holding him as he sobbed, relaxed and then finally drifted off to sleep.  The next day all was well and he was ready for new adventures.  His only question at Hurst Castle was “how many books are in the library?”   C developed a love of music and would often ask for songs and piano playing as he went to sleep.  He loved books but loved music more.  Moving from Canada to the US wasn’t easy.  He lived in small town where he was made fun of and one day actually dumped in the large garbage bin at the school.  Instead of anger towards them he wanted to know what made them so angry. Eventually he was voted as “Peacemaker” of his school.   He composed a tender piano piece of music “Amy’s Song”, when his cousin, my niece, who battled to live for 9 months died. Music is his life.  He has put himself through university teaching piano, French horn, violin and also playing the flute.  He is a wise young man, with a gentle heart, very infections laughter, as absent-minded as can be and incredibly thoughtful to older people.  He has just graduated from University, bought his first house, started his first job – teaching high school music, and next week he gets married. 
 
Oh I love him, and each of my 5 nephews and 5 nieces.  He is zany and courageous and has a reflection of Jesus that is authentic and infectious. I was celebrating from a distance today as I sat in the warmth of the sun.  A rather bittersweet kind of celebration.  Nevertheless I am celebrating that this amazing young man is my nephew, and has been a wonderful part of my life.