Peace and love to you all.
On June 13th, 1981, my mother and father were wed in a small, simple ceremony in Grafton, North Dakota. It was a Saturday morning and rainy as all get out. My dad worn a morning coat and apparently looked quite dashing. The Texas family made it all the way up to North Dakota for the wedding but one of my mom's bridesmaids did not, which bumped someone down to usher rather than groomsman. They were frugal and made much of their own paraphernalia, like banners and placecards and all that. After a luncheon following the service, they went up to Grandpa and Grandma Thompson (my mom's parents)'s farm and had yet more food because it's North Dakota and one thing that is basically universal when you live here is that if there is a gathering, there will be food and no you do not get to opt out of joining in. Once that was done, they hopped in their blue Honda Civic - which had been so 'nicely' decorated all over with shaving cream - and headed up to Canada. Upon reaching the town of Pembena, ND, the weather was so bad and raining so much that they had to stop to clean off the car because the 'helpful' shaving cream was smearing so badly that they couldn't see. That night, they arrived in Winnipeg and stayed the night then, the next morning, they hopped on a flight to Quebec and spent their honeymoon at the Hotel Frontenac. From there, we are given such stories as my mother saving the baby corn that came with their prime rib dinner because she had never seen it and it was small and cute and my father leaving his brand-new robe hanging on the hook behind the door in their hotel room as they went off to start their new life together. Today would have been 41 years together. It is heartbreaking that they have to spend this day apart from now on until God calls my mother home to Him. Which had better not be soon because I'm not dealing with that. Death takes from us so much - including the future - but it can never take our memories from us. Those memories are ours to hold and to cherish for as long as we like. May you have memories of your own that you hold dear and think upon them today. Thanks be to God.
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AuthorAfter 43 years of ministry, Randy Cross lived his "fourth life" and shared about retirement, living boldly and intentionally in our world. To be sure, there was some North Dakota thrown in. Archives
March 2023
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