Monday, August 25, 2008

Canadian Family


Here's a picture of my Canadian extended family from my in-laws' 50th Anniversary celebration this weekend. We posed in front of the pond you can see from their condo. It was a bit bright and quite windy, but you get to see the flavor of the group.

We celebrated with about 45 people in a 12th floor party room with adjoining outdoor patio. Mom pretty much catered it herself with some help from close friends, especially for setup and cleanup. Since we had taken them to Hawaii at Christmas for their anniversary gift, and we live in a different city, they didn't ask us to help out much ahead of time but we all spent significant time cleaning up afterwards.

The anniversary program was long but didn't feel like it. Quite a lovely program, very funny in parts, very touching in others, and we actually learned some things about their early life that we didn't know. We had lots of music, laughter, tears and joy. It felt a lot like my own family gatherings used to.

One of my favorite moments was singing an impromptu trio of "Farther Along" with my father-in-law and a lifetime family friend who lost her son a year ago. The other favorite was singing with Dad, hubby, his brother and wife in a four-part version of "It is Well With My Soul." None of us made it through with dry eyes.

Even my son contributed an impromptu speech during open mic. It's good for us all to witness the heritage and legacy that comes from parents who follow God through good times and bad. May we be as faithful.

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