A Surprise Bonus Day!

Although Chris and Julene have said goodbye to us, they are still in Canada, enjoying some time with his family. This past weekend, however, Julene was flown out for a day by a kind uncle to attend the wedding of a lifetime friend of hers. We knew this was in the plan but what we did not know was that Tehya would be coming along. What happened is that when she found out about her mom’s plans for the day, she asked to come too. “I’ve always wanted to go to an English wedding!” was her reason.

So, in the early afternoon while Mom was off for a rehearsal, Tehya and I played Barbies. One of the Barbies was wearing pantyhose. “What are those?” she wanted to know. Definitely not something she had ever seen anyone wear on the Equator, is my guess.
Before long, it was time to get ready for the wedding. It was quite fun to have such a cooperation coming from someone who was so excited to go and wanted to do everything right! She got herself dressed in her brown little tights and pink dress. I curled her hair and helped her with her new earrings. She put on some lip gloss while I put on my little black (and white) dress, teased my hair a bit, powdered my face and put on some lipstick. Papa also got himself looking quite dashingly handsome and off we were.

The ceremony was beautiful in a new way to me, as I saw it from the perspective of someone really surveying the proceedings for the first time. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the candlelighters and noted that they were lighting the candles on each side of the aisle at the same time. She smiled at the pretty bridesmaids, and then the flower girls scattering petals . . . I found myself mostly watching her not miss a thing, as she knelt on the bench, got on my lap for height and then stood at the end of the pew aisle, where we sat. When the bride walked in and everyone stood, I also got caught up in the moment as tears filled my eyes. It was a precious moment to be a part of.

After the ceremony Tehya came home with us and we had our own little dinner on the patio. This too, was quite special as she felt she had our sole attention, listening to her stories. At one point, as she was talking about toads, Papa, not sure he had heard her correctly, asked her, “Did you say you kissed a toad?” She casually answered, “Yes, but not for long!” In disbelief I exclaimed, “You kissed a frog?” And she answered, “A toad, Grammy, not a frog!”

When dinner was over, we went for a walk to the park. She noted one after another of the weeping birch trees growing in front yards along the street and finally asked, “Do those trees do well in this area?” I had to smile at the way she asked and things began to come together for me. We have grandchildren growing up and living in another country. This is not their home. Even I am beginning to refer to Indonesia as their home . . . after all, it’s been almost 5 years.

But, just for the record, this still brings tears to my eyes.

We ended our “day date” with her cuddled in between us watching a movie we had not seen I a long time and then tucked her into bed with a prayer and a story . . . our toad kissing princess . . . embedding another wonderful day in our hearts.