Yesterday was an interesting day, now that I look back on it. It was pretty much a normal day until I made the daily trip to the post office box where I found an invitation to a wedding. You know how sometimes companies create a junk mailing that tries to imitate a fancy event. That’s what I thought this was because I didn’t know of anyone getting married.
I had no idea what is was for…it took reading all the way down to the young man’s name when I realized it was an actual wedding announcement for a young man whom we’ve known since living in Mandeville. We were neighbors from about the time he was 5-6 until he was a senior in college. The interesting thing about him is that he is highly gifted. As a boy, he was intense. My son played with him from time to time and always came away stressed but happy. What is so rewarding about receiving this invitation is the young man that he’s turned into. He had a little sister born when he was in high school. The affect on his emotional and social growth was phenomenal. He’s going to make an excellent husband and father.
When you are a parent of a gifted child, all you can think about is getting through each day doing the best that you can to meet their academic, social and emotional needs. I never thought about having young adults, meeting that special someone getting married, securing a job. Gifted children do grow into gifted adults.
Later, when I got online for my email we received another wedding announcement. I know I have never received two announcements in one day. We had just seen this couple, sailing for ten days with them and 13 of our other friends. Our history with Sabrina started when we agreed to host a German student for an entire school year. She was 16 at the time. Sweet, curious, independent, flexible and very willing to share her culture with us and to partake in our culture. She eventually became the big sister for both my own two children and nearly an adopted daughter for us. We are super excited for her and Michael!
To round out the day, we had supper and drinks with several more friends. One young man, around 22 years of age, came with a friend. After our introduction, I learned that he had been in the Marines and had been married and divorced once already. During the discussion, I remembered that in a few days, Dave and I will be celebrating 25 years of being married to each other. I even mentioned how my grandparents had been together for over 70 years now during our conversations. All the day’s events caused me to reflect on the broader aspect of how and why some humans of the past select one individual to live with for a great length of time and how that way of thinking may be changing with the present culture in our world. Information, technology, scientific discoveries, increased population will affect our relationships with one another. It will be a challenge for our children to live with the same expectations that we had in our generation. But hopefully, the notion of caring deeply for another will remain foundational. I wish the best to every young couple out there thinking of making a lifetime commitment. It will take work, patience, cooperation and knowing that the ‘grass is greener’ right where you are!
