This time last year, Mom was really sick and growing exponentially sicker. It was horrible and exhausting to watch her decline like that. We never called in Hospice, and I got to serve Mom in ways that I could never have fathomed. I am thankful that I was able to be a small part of caring for her, but there were a lot of times that I told myself, “Just be thankful that she’s here. Even though she’s like this, at least she’s still here with you.” And over and over I said to myself, “There could come a day when you’d give anything, even to be back here, because it would mean she’s alive. Be thankful even for this.”
This weekend we went back to Dothan. We didn’t want to travel again, BUT it was Dr. Maddox’s 60th birthday, Josh and Berkley (Jeremiah’s brother and his girlfriend) were coming home from New York, my friend Lindsay was having a wedding shower, the Peanut Festival was in town, and we just could not say no to all of that. We did take the girls “Trick or Treating” Friday night. They were both Tinkerbell, and I have NO pictures. I forgot my camera y’all, and I am just sick about it.
I got to meet one of you, which was a really fun surprise. We sort of randomly took the girls to the Garden District for their candy excitement and as I was saying, “Pace, what do you say…” (to remind her to say “Thank you” for her candy) the lady at the door said, “What did you just say her name was?” I told her, expecting to hear that she had a friend named that or something, and what I got instead was, “Oh my gosh, I knew you all looked familiar. I am one of your blog stalkers!” It was sort of surreal. I felt, I don’t know, known. It was crazy, and I am SO glad she introduced herself. It made my night 🙂
Sunday was such an incredible day! Ashley (Jeremiah’s sister) and I planned a surprise 60th birthday brunch for Dr. Maddox. It was Ashley’s idea to surprise both her Mom and her Dad. I must say I was a bit nervous about pulling one over on my MIL in her own house. Especially since we busted out all of her silver and fine china, and re-decorated her very elaborate dining room. But we didn’t want her to be stressed out either…she seems to be always hosting other people and we thought she deserved to just enjoy the moment. So we did it. Ashley cooked all her food in Birmingham before she left. I cooked all my food at my Dad’s house, and we hid it all in their downstairs fridge. Then, when the door closed behind our family as the sweet little Christians went to church, Ashley and I got to work.
Ashley is a natural entertainer. It’s her element. She loves to cook, to serve others, to plan meals, and she can do it all with such a laid back demeanor that it amazes me. That is why I love to throw parties with her. I just let myself get caught up in the swell of her excitement and enjoy the ride. Can I give you the menu? Is that boring? It was just all so good I don’t want to forget. Ashley made a ham and Swiss quiche, a savory quiche, monkey bread, mini parfaits (filled with vanilla yogurt, granola, strawberries and blackberries), and an Italian creme cake for the birthday boy that was so moist and delicious it deserves its own post. I made a hashbrown casserole, stuffed roasted tomatoes, fried bacon, and Conecuh sausage on the grill (can you tell who’s the better cook?). We served mimosas and coffee out of big beautiful silver pitchers.
Now the setting…We used white bone china with red glass accent plates. There was a fire roaring at one end of the room and a cut-glass bowl filled with floating roses from the yard was the simple decoration at the center of the table. We drank out of silver goblets and stirred cream into our coffee with the most adorable tee-nincey spoons I’d ever seen. And perhaps the best part was that everybody lingered. We didn’t rush through the meal and run start the dishes. Everybody just ate and talked and ate and talked. After we finished that, the boys pulled out their guitars and sang, and finally we ended the day taking a big family horseback ride around the farm. It was a beautiful memory. Thanks for turning 60 Dr. Maddox! We’ll have to do it again sometime 🙂
As horrible quality as these are (they are off Jeremiah’s REAL hi-tech cell phone) they are the only Halloween evidence we have. At least you can get the idea. We figured out at the end of the night that I’d put Mary Aplin’s wings on upside down. So, she looks more like Dumbo than Tinkerbell 🙂
This is the Rehearsal Dinner, and of all the pictures below, this one may be my favorite. It’s THEM, Taylor and John David. Natural, making each other laugh, joyous, in love. To answer two questions you might have…One being–Where did I get all of these incredible pictures? John David’s sister, Kerie, is a photographer and she took all of these shots. Kerie, I am beyond impressed! Thank you, Thank you! Second–Why is John David wearing a crown (of some silly sort) and a robe at his Rehearsal Dinner? Neither Taylor or John David had ever had a real girlfriend/boyfriend. As a sophomore in college, if you’re Taylor, things could have started looking a little grim. It wasn’t that boys didn’t like her. They did. But, they were always either too close of a friend to imagine kissing, OR after a date or two, they got on her last nerve. The summer before she met JD, God gave my grandma a verse for Taylor: Zachariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, …” So for the next few months, my Mom started claiming that verse to Taylor over and over whenever she would get discouraged, “Behold, your king, he comes!” John David’s Mom was making a joke about this in her speech at the Rehearsal Dinner, hence the crown and robe. Now, I am about to show some more pics, but first I want to explain the lyrics I’m going to post at the end of all the pictures. Jeremiah wrote a song (that he and his sister Alex sang at the wedding) about these two. The first part of the song is about Taylor’s king coming. The second part, the boy part, is about John David. JD is a brilliant guy. Like, he could have played football at Harvard kind of smart. He is a man full of ambition, and the fact that he went from Phoenix, AZ to Auburn, AL for college is quite astonishing. He went to visit AU as sort of a courtesy to his parents (who both went there), but in no way expected that to be his college home. Once there, he just knew it was where God wanted him to stay, and now he says he came to Auburn to meet…yep, old Taylor. One more thing that will help the song make sense (if you don’t know Taylor at all) is that Taylor loves to sing and play the guitar–a lot. Hope you enjoy the pictures, and the song. It was an amazing weekend. Love you T, and John David! You make me smile.
John David dancing with his Mom at the dance party we had after the Rehearsal Dinner.
Pace trying to keep us all in line before we walk down the aisle 🙂
The reception was by the pond at my Aunt Alice and Uncle Dan’s house. WE could not have asked for more perfect weather, THANK YOU JESUS! It was a 70 degree brilliant fall morning.
Dapple Dapple!
This is John David’s sister Lanie and her little girl Addie. Don’t you just want to eat both of them up.
And they were off! In a horse-drawn carriage, courtesy of Dr. Maddox.
Taylor and John David’s Song
[Girl singing]From the the mouth of my own Mom,/”Girl behold your king he comes.”/Long before I could see/What that summer would bring to me./Where was my faith Abraham,/When all I could see was my empty hand?
Where does a king come from?/Is it strength, is it love that gives life to his bones?/Does he come from the heaven’s sky or from fairy tales,/Or somewhere in time?
[Girl Chorus] My faith could only fly so high/When all alone out in the sky,/Now that he’s finally come to me/There’s no such thing as gravity/Mom, can you see, He brought my king?
[Boy singing] Where did the wind come from,/That drew me up so far from my home?/I recall an angel’s song,/That told my heart where I belong./Before she sang I did not understand,/What moves the heart of a man.
Where does an angel come from?/ Is it music, is it love that gives life to her bones?/Does she come from the heaven’s sky/Or from stories and legends, or somewhere in time?
[Boy Chorus] A heart can only fly so high/When all alone out in the sky./When that heart hears an angel sing/There’s no such thing as gravity/And that’s the way it’s been since you sang to me.
Then, there’s a bridge where the guy and girl sing back and forth some of the lines from above. Then it ends, with a combined chorus:
A heart can only fly so high/When all alone out in the sky./When that heart finally finds its wings,/There’s no such thing as gravity,/And that’s the way it is with you and me.
[Girl]From the mouth of my own Mom,/”Girl behold your king he comes/[Boy]I recall an angel’s song/That told my heart where I belong.