A Very Happy Wedding Day

April 20, 2008


On Friday Marlene and I drove to Memphis for the wedding of Beth Hoeksema and Brandon Tierce. We had the rehearsal on Friday night and the wedding yesterday at 6 PM. After the reception we drove back to Tupelo (85 miles), arriving a few minutes past 11 PM. This morning Marlene remarked how much fun it was. I agree. I remember Beth when she was a young girl attending the church in Oak Park. Her parents were good friends, and Dan served as an elder in the early 90s until they moved from Chicago to Memphis. In recent years we have seen Dan and Linda infrequently, and we haven’t seen their children in a decade or more. Now the children have children of their own. On Friday night after the rehearsal we adjourned to Logan’s Roadhouse for a big celebration. All of Dan and Linda’s children were there with their spouses–Scott and Jeannette, Jenny and Ray, Mark and Amanda, Lisa and Jeff, and Beth and Brandon. Linda said they have five grandchildren with one on the way and more on the horizon. It was a happy thing to see a whole family celebrating together. It isn’t always that way. I have officiated at a few weddings where the intra-family tensions were so great you felt like we needed some security or else a wrestling match would break out. But not this weekend. The children (and their children) obviously love each other, love their parents, and enjoy being together.

And a quick shout out to Roberta Hoppe and to Jay and Nicole and Gracie and to Randy and Sharon, Tommy and Carolyn, Don and Pam, and to Kayleigh who stole the show and every heart yesterday.

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