Wonderful Tonight

I am so behind. There have been no Christmas posts (though I have three drafts saved), no pictures of all the holiday festivities, and no posts at all in month. SO, I PROMISE I will do a December recap (complete with photos) tomorrow. But today, I want to talk about something else entirely.

New Years Day has always been important in my family. Not only is it the start of a new year which in itself is an amazing feeling. (With one tick toc the clock creates a blank page and another chapter of our lives is started). It is also the day my grandparents were married and years later it is the day my mom and dad were married. So, we celebrate anniversaries and fresh starts all in one day.

This year was a VERY special anniversary for my grandparents. This year they celebrated their 60th wedding aniversary. The very thought of that is awe insipring to me. It is something that is almost unheard of in our culture today. Not only did their marriage last happily for 60 years, we are blessed that they are both with us and in good health to celebrate it. So on Tuesday Ian, Tim, Drew, and I loaded up in the Tahoe (also a new developmet I need to blog about) and headed down to Orlando. (I will blog details of the trip later..promise....this is about something more). My parents and Ben came down as well. My aunt Mel and Uncle Bill live there as does my Aunt Karen. My cousin Chris, his wife Ubi, and their kids, Katherine and Christopher, came over from Texas, and suddenly we were a gang of 17 taking over local restaurants. We spent a few days visiting and sight seeing until Friday arrived.

My Aunt Mel invited us all to a New Year's Eve party at her church. None of us were too happy about the concept, but we all agreed because we could be together. It was a small affair. There was a DJ, a keg, food, and lots of laughing at our table as we told stories about the past. Ian didn't last until 930pm and my AMAZING husband took him out to the care to sleep for 2 hours. The DJ announced that my grandparents were celebrating their 60th and had everyone clear off the dance floor for them to have a special dance. He played a song that was played at their wedding and my 83 yearold grandfather proudly held my 80 year old grandmother in a loving embrace on the dance floor. They were only able to dance for one verse, but it was enough to make me cry like a baby. I can only hope and pray that the Lord will bless Drew and I with the ability to dance at our 60th anniversary. Then the waterworks really started as the DJ called my parents out on the dance floor for their 23rd anniversary.

Midnight arrived to find Grandma and Grandpa cutting the cake, just like they did 60 years ago. We toasted, hugged, kissed, and I got to spend the start of the year with my two favorite guys, my family, and my extended family. On the car ride back to the hotel, Wonderful Tonight played on the radio. I realized that from where I was sitting it was an accurate song. 2011 had arrived...and it certainly looked Wonderful that night.