Gentle Courage

Justin and I had a pretty cool experience the other night. We were able to attend a fundraiser dinner for the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton. We were not on the floor but in the seats directly across the arena from her podium. The energy in the room was infectious. It was a really neat experience. Sadly, Bill was not in attendance and I joked with a friend that I would have tinkled in my undies if he was in the room. LOL!!!! On a side note, I really liked what she had to say and agreed with a large number of points she brought up.

We had the opportunity to sit next to this lovely elderly couple and I struck up a conversation with the husband. It was like a golden moment of awesomeness. I believe his name was Tom. (I am horrible with remembering names, but always remember faces) As we began our conversation, I admitted to Tom that we had never been to any sort of rally, political or otherwise, and that this was a pretty cool experience so far. He went on to explain that he and his wife had helped campaign for both Clinton's. Tom admitted that he and his wife had been married before they were even out of high school, celebrated 62 years of marriage, had two children, a 61 year old and a 58 year old. GASP. Put everything into perspective. I began to think about exactly how old these two actually were and how much they had seen and experienced in their lives together. It was truly inspiring and a really cool moment.

One of the moments Tom began to talk about helping Bill's governor campaign. Arkansas is known for their amalgamation of beliefs and types of folks, including and correctly so, the redneck back woods folks. They are STRONG in their views and STRONG in their beliefs and that is one if the most admirable, most frustrating things I enjoy about this state, even if these views differ greatly from my own beliefs.

Tom spoke of a moment when Bill went to a small town in Arkansas to ask its residents for their votes. It seems two good ole boys tried to get Bill to take off his political suit and take some chewing tobacco with them and have a more comfortable chat. Bill stood his ground as he did not chew and wasn't planning on beginning any time soon. The boys ridiculed Bill but he stood his ground.
It was at this moment that Tom mentioned the idea of "Gentle Courage". He said that there are examples of this idea all around us. Bill exemplified the idea of gentle courage, knowing what he would and would not do to win, being strong in his own belief structure and truthfully, being comfortable in yourself  and who you are to find this inner strength. Standing up for what you truly believe is difficult, especially if you face negativity and aggression. Standing your ground as to what you will put up with is hard. It is easier to just try and go along with the flow, not ruffling any feathers, and suppress your feelings. Even when you DON'T agree.

I think we miss having this sort of inner focus until we get out of our awkward stages, the high school years, the 20's, the 30's, sometimes even into our 40's do we struggle with figuring out who we truly are. Heck, who am I kidding? There are folks well into their 60's who struggle with figuring out who they are.

I like this idea of Gentle Courage. You don't have to have an "in your face" aggressive kind of bravery. You don't have to be an "in your face" kind of personality either to get things accomplished and exemplify this gentle courage. You can find strength within yourself and must trust that you have it within you to make a difference and live the life you have imagined for yourself.

I see this idea of Gentle Courage in so many folks around us. Facing life's struggles with grace, with energy, with love.

It is beautiful. It is scary. It is inspiring.

Thank you, Tom, for your kindness, and for your thought-provoking discussion. You had me thinking and contemplating and struggling and enjoying our thoughts. Was one of those GREAT discussions that leaves you thinking for weeks after it passes...I love those moments.

Post wedding stories...

We have returned to the land of Arkansas after a wonderful week and a half of preparation and celebration. We had such a wonderful time visiting and reconnecting with family and friends. I was so concerned about not getting the chance to be able to actually visit with folks who had traveled miles and miles and not get the chance to spend some time reconnecting. Friends I have not seen in so many years, family members who flew in to share our special day, friends who drove in to be present with us.
It was truly overwhelming. Many memorable traditions...At one moment, our dear friend and officiant, Anthony began the ceremony by telling us about the love that we should feel and how everyone present was our family. It was at this point that he gets everybody together for a family selfie.

cool moment#1

We had our rings passed around the attendees for them to be able to bless them, place their best wishes on prior to the actual ceremony. I stole this from our dear friends, Steve and Kelly Holley's wedding. I was so honored that Steve was able to make it in from Denver to be there for our day! And then our ring security, who were our godsons, Blaine Garrett and Cash Henry were to bring up the rings for the vows. Cash got shy and Blaine was left to his own and did terrific!

cool moment #2

We found an idea of having memory chairs at the wedding site off of the Pinterest site and were able to implement that. My grandparents and my uncle were memorialized and we could feel their presence there surrounding us. 

And then we ended the ceremony with everyone gathering around us and connecting to us. My dad lead us in the final prayer and we all said the Lord's prayer and it was so moving. The energy and the hush of the day, you could hear the rolling of the lake, and the whispers of prayer. It was beautiful and moving and a moment I will NEVER forget.

goose bump moment...

We did not want to have a guest book. I called my dear friend, Megan, to ask her about her marriage to her wife, Sarah, and what stood out for her as memorable. She and Sarah had a wedding certificate that included portions of their vows, and spoke of their commitment, and all of the guest were able to sign it as witnesses to this love. I created a certificate and we implemented this wonderful tradition. Megan and Sarah have theirs framed and under glass and hung at the entrance to their home. This is our plan to do so as well...

It was a memorable day, filled with lots of tradition and fond memories were created. We are so grateful for all of the love we felt, for all of the support we had from friends and family, helping us prep for the day, and the day was beautiful.

One moment was scary...we did have a tornado watch/warning right before dinner was to be served. We quickly had our guests help move tables inside and tear the tent down before the rain came. We were able to do so and dinner was served. My dear friend, Shari, was able to capture one of the most memorable photos for our event.  The weather passed and we were able to share some pretty spectacular rainbows.

Goose bumps abound!