Sometimes in the Silence

My house feels strangely silent today. It's the kind of silence that comes after a house has held a celebration and it's walls have echoed with laughter. I stood watching my children drive away one by one and walked into the quiet only to find my children had left sweet memories behind in every room.

I went into my bedroom and picked up the letter my little girl had written for me. She gave me the letter Saturday just hours before she walked down the aisle and became Mrs. David Agostino. She had curled up in my lap the way she used to do not so long ago. I stroked Abigail's hair and I listened as she shared her heart. In the letter Abigail wrote me she had penned the words to a lullaby I used to sing to her.

"Mommy, will you sing me this song for me one more time?"  And so I did. "Where are you going my little one, little one? Where are you going my little one, my love? Turn around and your a baby, turn around and your grown. Turn around and your a young wife with babies of your own. Turn around, turn around, turn around and your a young wife with babies of your own." Sitting now alone in the silence I could hear again in my memory the sound of my little girl's voice as she pledged herself to be David's wife.

I think I have found in every room of the house slips of paper where Elisabeth, one of Abigail's sister, wrote lists and notes. Elisabeth came home three weeks early to help with wedding planning. Thinking now about all the work she did leading up to the wedding I'm not sure what we would have done without her. As I watched her help her little sister memories of Elisabeth's wedding came flooding into my mind.

I went into the garage to get something out of the freezer but then gave up, that is where Faith put all the flowers. I looked again at the beautiful bouquet Faith had made for her sister to carry down the aisle. In the quiet of the moment I looked more closely at all the flowers Faith had used. Then I closed my eyes and let my memory paint the picture once more of the bridesmaids flowers, the flowers at the wedding and at the reception all arranged for Abigail with love by her big sister.

While sorting through the pile of cards and gifts I found the prayer Andrew had written for David and Abigail.
O Lord,
     May your blessing rest upon this couple
     Let their home be filled with joy.
     Let them enjoy children and grandchildren.

May your blessings rest on all those gathered around
     Let their joy in You touch the hearts and lives of friends and family
     Let the fullness of your love spill into the lives of all they meet
     Let them share life together

Fill our hearts with grateful love
     When we see your reflection in this union
     When they see your reflection in each other
     When their family extends

For Christ's name sake, Amen

When Abigail had been curled up on my lap the morning of her wedding she had looked across the room and wept when she saw the picture of her grandparents on their wedding day. In the picture they are walking down the aisle gazing lovingly into one another's eyes. Today their love and their lives are just sweet memories. Thinking back to Andrew's prayer, Let them enjoy children and grandchildren, I wonder if someday in the future there will be another bride sitting on her mother's lap looking at a picture of her grandmother and her grandfather on their wedding day and see the love in Abigail and David's eyes. Sometimes in the silence I can hear the stories of love.