Things don’t always happen the way you plan. Just ask my friend, Gwyneth (not her real name, but a great alter-ego!) Gwyn texted me last night with the devastating news that her only child, her beautiful boychik, had just TEXTED her to tell her he and his girlfriend are getting married tomorrow. By a Justice of the Peace. She was devastated. And understandably so. We have a mental image. We have social standards. We have a ritual for marriage…a model. He not only shattered his mama’s dreams, but he did it via a text. (That’s a whole blog post right there. We’ll get back to that down the road.) So, she turned to me for support and commiseration. Poor Gwyn…when will she ever learn I look at these things with a very twisted sense of humor?
At first, I offered her said commiseration. After all, I’m a mom. I get it. He didn’t play by the rules. Then I asked her what she said to him and found out this all transpired via text. (Ok, I’m getting dangerously close to a rant on how NOT to treat the woman who gave you life!) She, of course, told him she was speechless. He couldn’t understand why. She explained what it’s like to be the mother of an only child. He said he sure wished she could be there but his girl REALLY needs dental insurance because her teeth are nearly falling out of her head. Pause. Ok, I’m sorry. I’m a sensitive person, and God bless this young man for being responsible, and in a few minutes, I’m going to go back to that with Gwyn. But for now…I’m stuck with the teeth image. And maybe a Walmart Wedding. With Festive Balogna Squares…and Tang. I continued to speculate on the details of this wedding until I had Gwyn gasping for air and begging me to stop because she was laughing so hard. Then I swung back in with the tender heart. Yes, this sucks. Yes, this was pretty inconsiderate. But a) this has nothing to do with her, and b) this has everything to do with her son and his dream. Oh, if people would just live their lives the way we want them to…especially our kids! Gwyn was left feeling better about the whole thing. After all, he may have just spared her a sight she can’t unsee…a Walmart wedding, somewhere between “Automotive” and “Sporting Goods”.
❤
“You have fed them with the bread of tears, And You have made them to drink tears in large measure.”
Psalms 80:5