Safely Gathered

 photo by Aaron Barker

This is an emotionally charged week for me.

Soup is getting married.

My baby sister.
My good friend.
My best babysitter.
The last of the Card sisters.

Friday. Two days from now. (Two days, Meg!)

I will cry through the entire thing, ruining all the pictures of the day. I know I will, because just thinking about it makes me weepy - and I'm hopeless with this sort of thing, anyway. You know, things of eternal significance. Things of the family.

(I blame my tendency to cry at everything on my father)

(Hi dad!)

I love my family. I do. All of them. Immediate, original, extended.

And last night marked a major milestone for my 'original' family: the family of my upbringing.

Last night, Megan entered the beautiful Mount Timpanogos Temple and received her endowment (her sweetheart received his endowment at the same time, which is just neat!).

After the beautiful session, I stood within those 4 holy walls with my mother, my father, and all of my three sisters.

All of us.

Together in the temple.

Soup and I fell into each other's arms in the tightest hug we've ever given each other, the kind that fuses people together and speaks volumes in the way a heart can and a brain simply can't. My soul erupted with pure joy and immense gratitude. She had made it.

Over her shoulder, I saw my mother standing nearby, the glorious tears of a righteous mother on her beautiful face, and I whispered, "Mom, we're all here!"

The hug broke free to contain us all, and my mom whispered, "oh, I have been waiting for this day."

And as all six of us embraced each other in the best group hug of my life and looked at each other with significance and love and weepy, grinning faces, we let the joy of the moment wash over us in mighty waves; and I got a real sense of what forever would feel like.

I can't wait.

5 comments:

Grandpa Rusty said...

Amen and amen. It was glorious last night. It will be wonderful on Friday. I am so proud of all my girls for being the kind of women that their mother is - worthy in every way as daughters of a loving Heavenly Father, of a wonderful and amazing mother here in mortality, and making a certain quick-to-get-teary Dad happier than he could ever deserve.

And, yes, I cried reading your blog. You are most welcome for the easily provoked tear ducts.

MikkSolo said...

It was a beautiful night. Glad I was able to be a part of it. A toast to Tammy and Russ for raising girls who are all worthy of the temple. May our family turn out as well. Great Job Card Family. I commend you all.

Shawn

Carolyn said...

What a great story! Moments like that are just an amazing part of life :)

Nae said...

I'm so grateful I could be there. It was truly a beautiful and powerful experience. Friday is going to be the best ever! I'm lucky to be related to you all (even though I'm thinking those tear ducts must have come from Grandma and Grandpa because my dad seemed to have passed them on to me...)

Tammy said...

It was an incredible day! The people I love most were there. All of my daughters looked beautiful dressed in white. Their inside beauty shone through their outside beauty. I know we will continue to help each other along the path, holding onto the rod, encouraging and supporting each other each step of the way until we are all safely back in our Father's arms.

And somehow, I have inherited Dad's tear ducts too. We have both been weeping with joy and sadness since Friday.