Anniversary Homecoming

This blog is quite similar to the previous one, at least in that it is about seeing folks that we had not seen in many many years.   But the occasion and context is completely different.  

We recently celebrated our wedding anniversary,  and we decided that for the sake of nostalgia,  we would return to worship in the church where we were married 39 years ago.   I don't know that we have been back since,  primarily because I have almost always been occupied on Sundays in some ministry capacity.

So we returned to the scene of our wedding.  I know the pastor and we were delighted by the upbeat and excellent service, especially the uplifting music!

It was difficult to recognize some people, because everyone was wearing a mask, due to the pandemic.   The pastor, whom I actually know quite well,  did not recognize us with our masks.   But after church in the fellowship hall where people gathered to chat and connect,  it was clear that there were enduring relationships.

Richard, with whom I worked for many years is a member there and greeted us warmly.   There were others who knew one or the other of us for different reasons.  For Gerry,  there is a gentleman there who was actually his student many years ago!

I ended up having a long conversation with "Jodie".    As fate would have it,  many years ago,  while the pastor was away and I was filling the pulpit in his absence,  there was a terrible tragedy in the community.  A beloved coach,  father of three daughters,  a member of the church was killed in his own home by one of his daughter's boyfriends.   It was a terrible situation.  It is unimaginable how they all would have coped with that.  I know that the community itself had a hard time coping,  because your own home is a place where you expect to be safe and able to protect your family.

I was called to provide pastoral care and assistance in that situation.   Through that event,  I interacted with 'Jodie' and worked with her and her family, the funeral home, the hospital,  the school officials, and the pastor who was away,  to plan the event.     Due to the coach's position in the community and the nature of the tragedy,  the memorial service was held in the high school gym and attended by more than a thousand people.

"Jodie" filled me in on how her daughters are faring all these  twenty five years later.   I know that the trauma of what happened would have had a life-altering affect.  Two out of three of her daughters are doing okay.   Two were twins, one was much younger.    One of the twins is now a serious alcoholic living in a terrible situation.

Twenty five years were like nothing at all in connecting with 'Jodie'.   It was humbling to realize how such a memory will never go away,  and I am part of it!

Perhaps there are some for others, too!  Hopefully not many are as sad as that one was!