Navigating the Nuances of Impending Nuptials

Chicago family (son and grandson) flew in to visit Carbondale family

My husband and I escaped the daily 108-degree Florida heat to travel to Southern Illinois, the home region of my daughter and her soon-to-be husband. We rented a three-bedroom house on the fifth hole of the Kokopelli Golf course.

View from the patio of our house where our grandson is jumping for joy under a Harvest moon

Aside from fleeing from Florida’s feverish temperatures and playing rounds of golf, we are anticipating the wedding of my daughter over Labor Day weekend. Tracy is a first-time bride at 44.  “I decided to have my first marriage in my 40s instead of my first divorce,” Tracy quipped over lunch the day my husband and I accompanied her and Charlie to get their marriage license at the Jackson County Courthouse. (I would have missed that experience if I hadn’t been here, further self-confirmation that I didn’t want to miss a minute of the joy, confusion, chaos of choices, and time with my daughter as we jointly execute the items on our ever-expanding to-do lists.

Happy Day Applying for Marriage License

Happy Parents

 So dear reader, if you will bear with me, I plan to share this experience with you via a series of posts about how a 71-year-old mother and 44-year-old daughter navigate the nuances of impending nuptials. I wrote a series of posts during my birthday week this summer.  I discovered that writing daily posts not only held my writing feet to the fire, but the act of posting also prompted me to be more mindful and to savor each of the days. I want to be mindful of each emotion and event I have the privilege of experience during Tracy’s wedding week. So, stay tuned…