“I love you, Mom.”
“Hmmm?”
(A little louder) “I love you.”
“I love you too…so very much.”
I’d been deep in thought, listening to the lyrics we were slowly dancing to.
I knew this moment of ours was supposed to be the time to say all the things, but this boy and I had already said all the things, so the song the deejay played—written by Lori McKenna and sung by Tim McGraw—enchanted our ears:
When the dreams you’re dreamin’ come to you
When the work you put in is realized
Let yourself feel the pride but
Always stay humble and kind
It felt dreamlike as we moved side to side, and I took in everything my senses could hold: the supportive, joyful faces looking on; the twinkling lights hanging throughout the room, reflected in the antique mirrors on the opposite wall; and the warmth of his strong arms as we held each other.
Humble and kind.
Two simple words to describe that one, our firstborn, and just as fitting for his bride.
On spring break of 2017, we traveled down to warmer weather and spent time with our oldest, who, at the time, was living and working in Orlando.
He had recently been out with a young woman, another student he knew in college when they were part of the same circle.
She had visited Florida and messaged him—just two friends reconnecting—and they went out to eat together before she headed back to the Midwest.
When he and I sat on the beach in St. Petersburg a week afterward, I asked him to tell me about their time.
He lit up and shared a bit, then said, “I don’t know…I just have a really good feeling.”
Because of his words, I did too.
We met her a couple months later, and I immediately saw the qualities our son had used to describe her: friendly, thoughtful, playful, beautiful, smart.
He fell for her fast, and so did we. She gives us all good feelings because she’s funny, sincere, creative, empathetic, hard-working, faith-filled, and full of love.
She lost a parent to cancer at the time of her high school graduation, as I did, and we talked often about those profound losses in the early days of getting acquainted. I suspect she was an old soul even before her mom went to heaven, but that event, and her awareness that life is fragile and precious, make her even more so today.
They are the perfect match for one another, the match we’d prayed for, and they now have the great blessing of a young daughter and a baby boy.
As hard as it is watching our children leave the nest, there’s nothing better than seeing them start their own family by marrying the one God had planned for them since the beginning of time.
The night of their wedding, when he and I were finishing our dance, the ending verses struck me.
Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you
When you get where you’re going don’t forget turn back around
And help the next one in line
Always stay humble and kind
For many long years, to get where we were going was to plead with God to give my husband and me the strength and wisdom to raise our kids up right.
Now that they’re all but grown, I don’t take one second of it for granted.
I think of the generations that have gone ahead of us; their words of encouragement, their silent and spoken prayers, their admonitions and stories, their smiles and reassurances—extended from those who walked before and then alongside, getting us to this place.
My husband and I will continue that legacy.
We’ll assist, pray, tell stories and jokes, and be there—please God be willing—in any and all ways our kids and grandchildren need or want in the years to come.
With hearts of gratitude, we thank the Lord for every single treasured, unique member that makes the love in our family so abundantly vast.
It’s our time now, in this next season of life, to turn back around and help the next ones in line.
It’s a privilege, an honor, and a truly undeniable gift.
Originally published on the author’s blog
by Carolyn Moore 
by Amy Brown 
