An end to a season. And the beginning of another.

Our baby boy came home for a couple of weeks from the Army, went to the Chapel, and got MARRIED.  My husband, Lloyd, drove our son, Quinn, back to the Army base he’ll call home for the next five years. This time was different. When he was filling out his paperwork he turned around to Lloyd and said, “Dad, who should I put down as “Next of Kin?” And he told him, “Well, your wife, Sam.” Cue my tears.

I wrote Quinn and Sam a letter on the morning of their wedding:

                                                                                                                        May 16, 2024

My beautiful grown man, son – and beautiful daughter, Sam:

You will wed today and promise to be at her side, and you by his through whatever life may bring. This is a key moment. You are making one of the most important and life-altering decisions of your life. It feels like a passage for me as well – though I am not quite sure how to name it. I just know that I feel it in my bones. I only know it is big … and how proud I am of you … and how much I love you … and how blessed I am to have you… and how honored I have been to be your mom. That is all I know.

To love with your whole heart, with every fiber of your being is such a powerful thing … You give it all to each other trusting the other will care for the heart they now hold as their own. Marriage, this process of making it work, you learn more and more what it means to really love, and a little more about God’s relentless love for you.

Love is both a feeling and an action – a noun and a verb.

It is patient and kind, not jealous, mean, selfish, or rude. It believes the best in the other, even when they are struggling to believe the best in themselves. It is living faith, living hope, living love … every day … simply because on that day, you choose each other. Living your vows, and loving each other, regardless of the circumstance, makes you a better person.

The commitment of marriage is both a clearly articulated promise and a ritual filled with mystery. You agree to walk into the forest together, willing to face whatever life brings, as a team, defending, protecting, loving, and infusing hope. There will be times of darkness in this forest –  brought on by the density of life. Each of these passages is another invitation to grow closer to Jesus.

Cling to God and to each other, care for your relationship and take nothing for granted.

I love you –forever and without condition. ~Mom