Saturday, January 22, 2011

My Dad is getting married!

Marilyn May and Moe Beaujeu
To be married 05 Feb, 2011

Their invitations are in the mail so I am not letting any cats out of the proverbial bag by sharing this tidbit of information. In fact I got mine last week (invite) so I am feeling pretty confident that a bunch of you know this already.

How do I feel about this? Quite frankly...I'm stoked about it. I could NOT be happier.

As many of you know we took the passing of our Mother (23rd Sept, 2007) hard. Her sweet presence has been missed terribly. We love her and respect her so much, and we still miss her EVERY day. But, no-one has taken it harder than our Dad. No-one can dispute the eternal love he feels for his Marlene. That is clear and in full effect...for all of us, and it will never change.

I have taught my children since they were knee-high to a grasshopper, that love is NOT a pie! Remember in kindergarden or first grade when we are introduced to fractions by being given a whole pie? Then the teacher would ask, what if we had two people and we needed to share? Well, we'd take that pie and cut it in half, each to share an equal lesser part. Well, what if we had four people? Then- we take that pie and we basically rob the others of a portion of their pie to accomidate the new people, thus making fourths. As a fifith or sixth person shows up there starts to be a little bit of resentment beginning to build behind the niceties of our communal share (murmur murmur). What happens then when we start inviting our friends, and six become eight, or ten, or more? Well, if my sister can bring a friend and share...then I should be able to make everyone share their pie with MY friend, right? So, you can see that this demonstrates perfectly the example of the limited capacity of pie sharing. The more people who come for pie the smaller the piece given to each person present. Ugh! Pretty soon...why bother...right?

This story was always a great segue to the limitlessness of the capacity of love.

No, love, indeed, is NOT a pie. We do NOT have to rob anyone of their piece of our love. Nor are we given a specific compartment of love with limited capacity. Like a tupperware bowl, where if we pour too much into it it begins to over-flow and make a mess. (Do a subject study in the scriptures using the topic, 'capacity'.) Wow, Heavenly Father is so great!

Love is only limited by fear. As we exercise faith and love others Heavenly Father blesses us with an increased capacity to love more. And no-one in our lives must have one ounce of the love we feel for them compromised or diminished by having someone new come into our lives. The more we give love, the more we are able to recieve it.

That brings me to our sweet Marilyn. She is lovely, and as sweet as they come. Her and her husband were friends with my parents (having a cabin near theirs). Mays sold their cabin and lost touch with my parents until one day at the Huntsman Cancer Institute where my Mom, Dad, and I were sitting in the waiting room waiting to go back for an appointment with her oncologist, Dr. Tudor, and in walked Richard and Marilyn May. Everyone hugged and some tears were shed by my mother as she felt the pain of seeing another friend struggle with the ugly 'C'-word. Richard was there for his chemo treatments. Again, with the all consuming nature of this terrible disease, they again lost touch. Unknown to my family Marilyn lost Richard little more than two months after we lost Mother.

Through a series of events that some would call coincidental...I do not... Dad and Marilyn were able to find each other and connect in such a sweet, respectful, and loving way. I won't give away all their secrets and share their courting, and how love found it's way blossoming into their lives again. I only know the day I got a voice-mail from my Dad saying he had something to tell me and I heard in his voice on that message a joy that I hadn't heard since my Mother passed from this world. I said to Jerry, "He sounds HAPPY!" How could a loving child of my father not embrace and be excited for this return of joy and the woman who brought it back into his life? He is not dead, and his life is not over. His life is prescious and this life is meant to be LIVED! I am so proud of my Dad. Again he teaches us in the way he is living his life. You go DAD!

I went to Utah a couple of weeks ago (actually it was a lay-over when I took Cassi up to BYUI) and was able to meet Marilyn for the first time. Excuse my comparison, but this is what it reminded me of;  Like the feeling of loving a child before it's born. I knew before I laid eyes on this sweet lady that I would love her. My Dad does, and thats good enough for me. I have talked to Dad on the phone enough and he has shared enough with me to know that she is going to be a wonderful addition to the Beaujeu family. She is considerate, happy, thoughtful, and kind hearted.

I hope you will ALL expand your capacity to love, and embrace the opportunity to increase the love you recieve by loving Dad's Marilyn. We do.

No, love is NOT a pie!

~Sandi Beaujeu Dodge

1 comment:

  1. What a sweet post! Ironically enough, 'Marry Me' by Train was playing while reading this! You're right...love is NOT a pie, but I sure do LOVE pie! Chocolate cream to be exact!

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