This week our eldest son got married. The bandmaster announced our song and I followed our grownup boy onto the dance floor.
"Mom," he said as the music started, "why did you pick this song?"
"Listen to the words," I responded. "Just listen..."
Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand
Hold it tight
And he did. And he twirled me around. And he hugged me and kissed me on the dance floor.
'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more
Stephanie Madison Photography
I looked into the teary eyes of our man-child…and there I saw the same little boy whom I'll keep in my heart forever: the son who entered our lives twelve months after our wedding and forever sealed the oneness between his father and me; the five-year-old child who looked at me with big, concerned eyes on his way to his first tee ball practice and said his "stomach was scared;" the same little boy who broke his arm the next day and showed this mom she couldn't handle emergency room trips without his daddy. In my heart was the gangly teenager driving the ugliest gas efficiency vehicle we could afford, embarrassed when he had to chauffeur his four younger brothers to school; later was the college-bound son struggling to hide his trepidation at leaving his secure nest. Behind his emotion, I sensed our adult son wrestling with the awareness of his new responsibility and in my heart were flashbacks of this same boy feeling the weight of setting a high standard of conduct for his younger brothers to follow.
When destiny calls you
You must be strong
I may not be with you
But you've got to hold on
They'll see in time
I know
We'll show them together
A few days before his wedding he texted me and said, essentially, "I'm scared." And I dug deep into my heart and found the words to give him reassurance. I told him the Lord had brought a chosen daughter of His own to be his wife. His father and I couldn't do this for him. Proverbs 19:14 says, “Parents can provide their sons with an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife." But my heart resonated with his fear, because it mirrored my own. Tonight was the beginning of the end of our journey together; from now own, I will walk behind him in support of him and the beautiful woman who will walk beside him.
His text also said, “I don’t know what to do.” I responded with the words from my heart : “What will you do? You will grow together. You will both be better together than you would ever be alone. You will know you made the right choice.
And what will I do? I will love you forever, and continue to be proud of you, my Son.”
I'll be with you
I'll be there for you always
Always and always
Just look over your shoulder
Just look over your shoulder
Just look over your shoulder
I’ll be there always*
*You'll Be In My Heart lyrics © Walt Disney Music Company