My One Little Word for 2020 is Embrace. Little did I know in January how much I would need this word, especially when one of the no-nos in this Covid world is hugging. One thing I did know at the beginning of the year was that we would be having a wedding in our backyard in October.
That wedding plan went on a roller-coaster ride and landed with 14 seats at the table (+3 toddler nephews). My wise daughter decided in July, when cases spiked again in our state, to cut her guest list to only immediate family. That included her parents, his parents, her sisters and their husbands, and his brother and wife. The officiant was her grandmother, a retired district court judge.
There is still a great deal of planning and stress that come along with a small wedding. There was food to be ordered, rentals to be delivered, a bar to stock, etc. Not to mention we invested in rebuilding the deck. The good news is we get to keep the deck.
Leo, 22 months, Thomas, 13 months, and Charlie, 2 years 4 months.
The weather could not have been more perfect. After enduring a hurricane the weekend before, the sky was blue and clear. The temperature was in the 70’s. The bayou glistened with fall colors.
As perfect as the weather was, so were the bride and groom, holding hands, exchanging heartfelt original vows, and creating a new family.
They asked me to read an original poem. It appeared here on my blog. I choked my way through it. We all cried, laughed, danced, and sang the night away…into the wee hours…because we didn’t want it to end.
Year 2020 has taught me to embrace my family. This weekend extended my family to a wider embrace. I am filled with gratitude and grace.
Reflections on the Teche 
Hooray! What a lovely celebration and the hurricane didn’t wreck it all. Thank goodness. I love the poem that Martha chose for you to read. Goodness, just reading it in my kitchen makes me a bit weepy. Creating a new family….the most beautiful celebration of all. Bless you all in the golden light of your day.
So lovely! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Congratulations to the bride and groom. Thank you for “embracing” us w/ this lovely moment. Everyone looks gorgeous. Those nephews are adorable. The new deck looks good, too.
Congratulations to your expanding family. What a smart and creative family to find solutions (and a new deck) that allowed you all to “embrace” the day and add more meaningful interactions between the family members! And it was a beautiful day – from your recounting and from the pictures!
Love the photos:) Our best wishes to your daughter and son-in-law. The children look so sweet. Thank you for sharing.
What a lovely celebration! So glad everything worked out well. Thanks for sharing the photos and your perfect poem.
Lovely all the way through. We are so lucky to have such love in this world. May it sustain us. Congratulations, too, to you and your family on hosting a beautiful wedding a week after a hurricane!
Such a bright happy event amidst the gloomy stuff. Congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple!
Congratulations, Margaret, to the bride and groom and all the family. The day is bright, your original Cento poem is alive with sentiments of love and hope for the future.
We understand
this kind of love,
tender and new,
like a gift
waiting to be discovered.
May each day be a blessing.
How lovely! Sounds like a beautiful, intimate family moment despite the chaos in the world. Congratulations to you and your family.
This is the perfect illustration of “embrace,” Margaret – a gorgeous fall wedding despite the changes in plans. Those nephews! So precious. Your daughter is beautiful – she and her husband look so happy. And how wonderful is it that the officiant was her grandmother? That’s a special blessing on the union – seems the bayou bedecked itself for the occasion as well.
Beautiful in absolutely every way! Thank you for sharing this, Margaret!