What a joyful day! Allexis Done and Adam Herring were married in the Palmyra temple! However, our family's joy went way beyond that.
John, Ethan and I drove up to Palmyra the night before. We wanted to catch an endowment session before the actual sealing took place, and we didn't want to need to wake up at 4 a.m. to get there on time.
New York State is beautiful. It feels like at any border crossing out of Pennsylvania, the view improves. Hmmm, that could just be me and my dislike of Pennsylvania affecting the vision, but who knows?
The Palmyra temple is such a beautiful temple. Okay, there isn't a temple that isn't beautiful, but there's something special about having a temple there, in the vicinity of so much church history. Too, there's no noise around it. No traffic, no city noise. Just the temple. It was lovely.
We arrived in time for the endowment session, and as it turned out, Jacque Done was taking out her endowments! Because of this, Allexis and Adam were there, as were the Done parents. I always wonder what's going through the mind of people who are there for the first time. Are they feeling completely overwhelmed as I was, or are they feeling pure happiness like Mark did?
After the endowment session, we headed straight into the sealing room.
Let me back up here, or the rest of the story won't make much sense.
When John and I were married in the DC temple, we had no parents there. When I took out my endowments, my step-father's mother was there, but she wasn't much help. However, there was one woman there, Patty Meldrum, who was a lifesaver for me.
In fact, when I think back on my wedding day, Sister Meldrum is always in the forefront of my thoughts. It was a very sad day in that I had no parents there, and John's mother was out in the parking lot crying because she couldn't come in. I didn't have that magical moment of standing in the bride's room and preparing. Little did I know that this would be a foreshadowing of our lives--John and I doing everything alone. While I hated it at the time, we have found our groove together, and now it works. I think that knowledge would have brought little comfort to my 19-year-old self back then, but I wish I could go back and tell myself that it's all going to be okay.
Okay, enough with the sadness, because this post is about JOY!
Well, Sister Meldrum helped me through that day. I didn't know her from Adam, but her son was John's best friend, and she had always taken an interest in the Kennedy children and their difficult lives. She reached out to them and helped the family when possible. When she saw me alone, she did the same thing for me--she reached out to me and helped me through the day, and because of that, I have always felt indebted to her.
It turns out that Adam Herring (the groom) is from Ypsilanti, MI (the town where John grew up). It was on a day last spring when Mark called us and asked if we knew Adam. When John put together the last name with the husband of one of his best friends growing up (Cathy Jo Laws who married John Herring), we were a bit incredulous. Here's our son, going to Michigan, meeting up with a kid who is the son of friends of John. Mark and Adam had gone to the Detroit temple together one evening, and while driving, had discovered that Adam's girlfriend at the time (Allexis) was the same Allexis Done from our ward in State College! In other words, Adam was dating one of the friends of my kids!
Man, it's a small, small world.
So, at the wedding yesterday of Lexi and Adam, John expected that people from Ypsilanti would attend, and he wasn't disappointed. Adam's mother, Cathy Jo, died from breast cancer 15 years ago, and because of that, the women in the Ypsilanti ward stepped in and acted as mothers for the Herring children. Guess who one of those women was? Yep, Sister Meldrum.
I was rather disappointed when I walked into the endowment session, hoping to see Sister Meldrum and didn't. However, when I walked into the sealing room, there she was! I almost ran across the room, and I did fall down at her feet where she was sitting. I was trying to be inconspicuous, but more than that, I just wanted to look up into the eyes of the woman who held such a high place in my memory. She didn't recognize me at first, and I didn't blame her, but as soon as I said "I'm Larisa Kennedy", she looked back and said, "Why yes, you are."
The words of gratitude couldn't come out fast enough. Words that I had wanted to tell her for the past 20 years. Without even realizing it, tears came streaming down my face. I was so thankful to see her again and to be able to tell her "thank you".
I quickly found my seat as I realized the ceremony was about to start.
Again, words can't describe the beauty and the happiness of that moment. Lexi and Adam couldn't have been more in love, and I think we all fell a little bit in love with them as we watched them together. Too, I couldn't have been happier for my friends, Suzette and Craig, seeing two of their daughters on such an important day.
Afterwards, there were pictures, and then a cookout down the street from the temple. As much as I don't like social events, I couldn't have been happier, seeing people I had known from my life in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. In fact, John and I realized that we were the only people who knew both sides of the wedding party :-) President Laws was there, as was Sister Bailey and the Meldrums. I was so insanely happy that we had been invited to the sealing and that we had worked it out so that we could attend.
A really beautiful thing about the cookout? These people who hadn't seen John in 20 years were able to see the man he has become. When we first arrived at the pavilion, the chicken was frozen solid. And we were supposed to be eating in 20 minutes. Sister Meldrum didn't know what to do, but John just grabbed the cooler of frozen chicken, and with Sister Meldrum following, ran it into the church building and started defrosting it all in the microwave there. Catastrophe avoided.
Then, John was bringing ice cream to all those lovely ladies. Little did they know that I haven't scooped my own ice cream in 20 years--John always does it for me. They were delighted to be served by him.
Too, he kept everyone laughing. It was obvious that he felt the love of people from his childhood.
At the end, a funny thing happened. The newlyweds' car had a flat tire. Nobody was sure when it happened, but by the time it was noticed, it was totally and completely flat. Whenever anything like this happens, John always springs into action. He's always been one to fix cars. The crazy thing? All the other Ypsilanti men were doing the same thing! It was obvious to me that John is cut from the same cloth as all those wonderful men. I have wondered in the past where he got those skills, or even a desire to fix cars, but at that moment, my question was answered. In fact, he became quite the hero, being the only man who could get that tire off the car.
John, Ethan and I drove up to Palmyra the night before. We wanted to catch an endowment session before the actual sealing took place, and we didn't want to need to wake up at 4 a.m. to get there on time.
New York State is beautiful. It feels like at any border crossing out of Pennsylvania, the view improves. Hmmm, that could just be me and my dislike of Pennsylvania affecting the vision, but who knows?
The Palmyra temple is such a beautiful temple. Okay, there isn't a temple that isn't beautiful, but there's something special about having a temple there, in the vicinity of so much church history. Too, there's no noise around it. No traffic, no city noise. Just the temple. It was lovely.
We arrived in time for the endowment session, and as it turned out, Jacque Done was taking out her endowments! Because of this, Allexis and Adam were there, as were the Done parents. I always wonder what's going through the mind of people who are there for the first time. Are they feeling completely overwhelmed as I was, or are they feeling pure happiness like Mark did?
After the endowment session, we headed straight into the sealing room.
Let me back up here, or the rest of the story won't make much sense.
When John and I were married in the DC temple, we had no parents there. When I took out my endowments, my step-father's mother was there, but she wasn't much help. However, there was one woman there, Patty Meldrum, who was a lifesaver for me.
In fact, when I think back on my wedding day, Sister Meldrum is always in the forefront of my thoughts. It was a very sad day in that I had no parents there, and John's mother was out in the parking lot crying because she couldn't come in. I didn't have that magical moment of standing in the bride's room and preparing. Little did I know that this would be a foreshadowing of our lives--John and I doing everything alone. While I hated it at the time, we have found our groove together, and now it works. I think that knowledge would have brought little comfort to my 19-year-old self back then, but I wish I could go back and tell myself that it's all going to be okay.
Okay, enough with the sadness, because this post is about JOY!
Well, Sister Meldrum helped me through that day. I didn't know her from Adam, but her son was John's best friend, and she had always taken an interest in the Kennedy children and their difficult lives. She reached out to them and helped the family when possible. When she saw me alone, she did the same thing for me--she reached out to me and helped me through the day, and because of that, I have always felt indebted to her.
It turns out that Adam Herring (the groom) is from Ypsilanti, MI (the town where John grew up). It was on a day last spring when Mark called us and asked if we knew Adam. When John put together the last name with the husband of one of his best friends growing up (Cathy Jo Laws who married John Herring), we were a bit incredulous. Here's our son, going to Michigan, meeting up with a kid who is the son of friends of John. Mark and Adam had gone to the Detroit temple together one evening, and while driving, had discovered that Adam's girlfriend at the time (Allexis) was the same Allexis Done from our ward in State College! In other words, Adam was dating one of the friends of my kids!
Man, it's a small, small world.
So, at the wedding yesterday of Lexi and Adam, John expected that people from Ypsilanti would attend, and he wasn't disappointed. Adam's mother, Cathy Jo, died from breast cancer 15 years ago, and because of that, the women in the Ypsilanti ward stepped in and acted as mothers for the Herring children. Guess who one of those women was? Yep, Sister Meldrum.
I was rather disappointed when I walked into the endowment session, hoping to see Sister Meldrum and didn't. However, when I walked into the sealing room, there she was! I almost ran across the room, and I did fall down at her feet where she was sitting. I was trying to be inconspicuous, but more than that, I just wanted to look up into the eyes of the woman who held such a high place in my memory. She didn't recognize me at first, and I didn't blame her, but as soon as I said "I'm Larisa Kennedy", she looked back and said, "Why yes, you are."The words of gratitude couldn't come out fast enough. Words that I had wanted to tell her for the past 20 years. Without even realizing it, tears came streaming down my face. I was so thankful to see her again and to be able to tell her "thank you".
I quickly found my seat as I realized the ceremony was about to start.
Again, words can't describe the beauty and the happiness of that moment. Lexi and Adam couldn't have been more in love, and I think we all fell a little bit in love with them as we watched them together. Too, I couldn't have been happier for my friends, Suzette and Craig, seeing two of their daughters on such an important day.Afterwards, there were pictures, and then a cookout down the street from the temple. As much as I don't like social events, I couldn't have been happier, seeing people I had known from my life in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. In fact, John and I realized that we were the only people who knew both sides of the wedding party :-) President Laws was there, as was Sister Bailey and the Meldrums. I was so insanely happy that we had been invited to the sealing and that we had worked it out so that we could attend.
A really beautiful thing about the cookout? These people who hadn't seen John in 20 years were able to see the man he has become. When we first arrived at the pavilion, the chicken was frozen solid. And we were supposed to be eating in 20 minutes. Sister Meldrum didn't know what to do, but John just grabbed the cooler of frozen chicken, and with Sister Meldrum following, ran it into the church building and started defrosting it all in the microwave there. Catastrophe avoided.
Then, John was bringing ice cream to all those lovely ladies. Little did they know that I haven't scooped my own ice cream in 20 years--John always does it for me. They were delighted to be served by him.Too, he kept everyone laughing. It was obvious that he felt the love of people from his childhood.
At the end, a funny thing happened. The newlyweds' car had a flat tire. Nobody was sure when it happened, but by the time it was noticed, it was totally and completely flat. Whenever anything like this happens, John always springs into action. He's always been one to fix cars. The crazy thing? All the other Ypsilanti men were doing the same thing! It was obvious to me that John is cut from the same cloth as all those wonderful men. I have wondered in the past where he got those skills, or even a desire to fix cars, but at that moment, my question was answered. In fact, he became quite the hero, being the only man who could get that tire off the car.
Man, it felt good to be back with "our own kind" for the day, and to be part of such a special moment in the Dones' lives. What a joyful day in Palmyra!
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