Minnesota (Part Two)

The real reason for our trip to Minneapolis was a wedding...

Our son Jim met his bride Michele a little over a year ago. On April 26, 2012 they started dating, and a year and a day later sealed their love with the bond of marriage. I have to admit this was one of the most beautiful weddings I have been privileged to enjoy. I knew it was a wedding that would make me teary, but the tissues I expected to find in the front row were nonexistent. Instead I held back the best I could and brushed away the few tears that managed to escape in spite of my best efforts. (Now I can cry in the privacy of my own home while watching and listening to the wind whipped video instead.)

Perhaps the most touching part of this union was hearing emotion in both the bride's and groom's voice as they recited their personal words to each other. (I don't know if I'd really call them vows...) Knowing that my dear son has someone special to have and to hold, that he is no longer lonely and alone, means everything to me. I wish this for each one of my children and pray that in His time God will bring that special person into each one of their lives.

Michele, who picked her wedding date months ago, must have a special con- nection with the Maker of the Heavens. She (and all of us too) was blessed with an incredibly beautiful outdoor wedding sandwiched between two snowstorms. Kristina called it a "miracle". Temperatures were in the seventies and above for the duration of our stay. The weather couldn't have been nicer had it been July!

(Photos are from the rehearsal on Friday evening, but Saturday was just as gorgeous with a touch more wind. Being mother of the groom made actual ceremony photos difficult for me, besides Ben was using my camera to take a video. I can't wait to see what shots the actual photographer captured!)