A Laughter of a Memory

This morning, as I stood in the bathroom straightening my hair, I began to think of all the things I'm blessed by. I thought of some of the amazing people I've traveled alongside to India. I thought of many of the people in my congregation that are so pleased in the Lord. I thought of the provision that God has granted me - a wonderful new apartment at the top of my list today. I also thought of my beloved husband. In thinking about how great he is, I stumbled across a memory that, I believe, vividly expresses why I am thankful for this man. The memory is this:

Aaron and I went to Oregon in October. We flew into the Portland airport on October 15th around 5pm. We exited the airplane, gathered our luggage, and we lugged our luggage (now I understand the term "luggage") toward the car rental booth just outside the airport. Aaron stood in line as I stood watch over our luggage just beyond the line, toward the parking garage. After the transaction at the counter was completed, Aaron and the car-rental-man proceeded toward the garage and I followed. We entered an elevator that would take us to the garage level where we'd receive our beautiful, masterpiece of a car - a royal blue Chevy Cobalt. The car-rental-man, being polite and personable, thought it fitting to start small talk in the elevator. "What brings you to Portland," car-rental-man asked. "We're visiting my grandpa," Aaron replied. I truly worked very hard not to laugh out loud while thinking to myself, "Visit your grandpa!?" "Oh, how sweet! I'm sure he'll be so happy to see you," car-rental-man said so sincerely. In my head (and probably in my face), I laughingly smirked a reply, "Not really! He's dead!" You see, Aaron and I had traveled to Oregon not to visit his grandfather, but to celebrated his life and morn his passing with the rest of Aaron's family. What brought us to Portland? His grandfather's memorial service! My precious Aaron simply didn't want to hear, "oh, I'm sorry for your loss" and thought it better to explain our visit in different terms.

It's all these blessed memories that make me smile.