This morning reminds me of one of those mornings I used to have with Tyson.
The peacefulness that we would feel when the dew was fresh and the sun was just beginning to edge out the clouds of darkness. Tyson and I would sneak early mornings like this one to the park…or what they consider to be a park around here and we would walk.
It would be early enough that the sun wouldn’t blaze and he wouldn’t get sun burnt.
I get to see him today. Well, visit his grave. We are going to Rimersburg for a car cruise, and it is my father in law’s favorite day of the year.
We are going up early at 8 am. The cruise starts at 1.
“We have to be ready!” he will say. He has always been an early morning kind of guy who used to make a major commute to Pittsburgh back when he was still in the business. Now, he remodels homes mainly for himself as he owns two properties that are side by side…one is the original family home and the other one was once owned by a dear old friend. Now the dear old friend, now passed, can rest assured that his house is in tip top shop shape, as my father in law takes care of it like he does his cars—meticulously and perfectly with nothing but showroom excellence.
It got me thinking this morning about all of these old cars that will be on display. How they are all so fine tuned and polished, and how once they were at the hands of something probably pretty regular. Today, we give great heed to these remnants, to the originals, and to the memories that were our childhood, our adolescence…by walking through these cars, paying homage to them as though they were old friends. I know my father in law feels this way, or he wouldn’t treat them as he does. They each have a stall of their own in his massive garage, as though they were horses in a barn.
I used to think it was all about vanity. I won’t lie to you. But the older I get, the more I wake up early on the Rimersburg car cruise day, because it was my childhood, and cookie daze, (the town fair), was my tradition growing up. Seeing my father in law makes me proud and I proudly walk the streets back and forth with the family, because I am part of their family and it is what we “do.”
This morning the early rising sun reminded me that Tyson was gone. But it also has left me with feelings of joy. The circle of life, our lives and remnants are things of value. They are near and dear to our hearts. They elicit strong emotions and feelings and shouldn’t be taken for granted. For someday we will be talking about someone or something that is no longer with us, and without paying homage to it today we will have lost that blessing while it was still with us. Celebrate each day. Life is a party at party gatherings. Party On. And may God bless you today and always.
“I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessings.” Ezekiel 34:26
Party Gatherings 