Thirty-Four

No this is not a lucky number...well not for me anyway!

This is a VERY special number for 2 very very important people in my life. If not for them, I would not be here - literally.

I am talking about my parents, Fred & Linda Tims.

The memories I have of them are many but I want to share some that come to mind often and some that are so very vivid and then I will share some news as well.

My parents were never and are still not perfect but man they gave me a clear, beautiful picture of what a marriage should be. They argued very few times in front of us and when it was in front of us, it was usually because of us. They never went to bed at different times and still don't to this day. They took us to lots of places. I was one of very few kids that could say I had been to 25 states before I graduated 8th grade. We went to Washington DC one Christmas. We saw the White House, all the monuments, went into the Washington Monument and watched President George Bush land in the helicopter. We saw the Liberty Bell. I've been to all the Smithsonian Institutes. We drove across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway which is the longest overwater bridge in the world! I got to see the houses in New Orleans in all their beautiful glory before Hurricane Katrina removed them from anything but pictures. They lived for us. Really. Ask them and they may say something different. But I doubt it.

So what does all this have to do with the number 34? I'm getting there.

I watched my parents devastated when our house was robbed and when things turned up missing. There were so many things that we put them through. And they stuck it out. It worked because they really are best friends. They don't do anything without one another. My dad takes my mom to the store and waits outside for her no matter how long it takes. He makes sure she takes her medicine and that she naps when she needs to. She makes him take his medicine and naps when he needs to.

My parents got married on August 13th, 1976. My Grandma (my dad's mom) and my Grandma and Papa were there. After the ceremony was over and they were signing their marriage certificate, my dad looked up at the judge and asked him if he knew the name of a good lawyer. The judge looked at him and asked, "Why?" My dad said, "Because I want a divorce." And so it began. We have heard about my dad wanting a divorce for as long as I can remember and he loves telling people this story. As you read, it was a Judge and not a Priest that was present.

So my mom was baptized in the Catholic church not too long ago. They want to receive the sacrament of Marriage in the Catholic Church. My dad grew up in the Catholic church and schools and so he's good to go. They were both married before to other people but my dad's marriage was not performed before God so it really doesn't "count." BUUUUUUUUTT.....my mom's marriage was performed in the church. Her ex-husband was baptized in the Mormon church and for some reason or another, Catholics don't see that as being baptized so they should be all good, right?!

NOPE!

They had to go through the Catholic Tribunal and fill out all kinds of paperwork to be able to receive the sacrament of Marriage. They started the paperwork A LONG time ago and they thought that they would have the results back pretty quickly because of the ex's baptism and they would make the deadline to get married on their 34th wedding anniversary. It's getting really close.

Fast forward to a few days ago, my mom got a call from the Tribunal. They told her that they would be sending a form to her ex-husband to have him fill it out. It is a form to ask him if he has been baptized in any other church. If he hasn't, they will anull their marriage. If he has, they will not. If he doesn't return it, they will anull by default. Now, during all this time, my parents have spoken with mom's ex a few times on the phone to let him know they were trying to get this done. He has no problem helping her and has disclosed to her that he was only baptized once in his life and that was at the Mormon church. So, hopefully we will meet the deadline.

The really neat thing about all this is that my parents were married on a Friday the 13th. Their 34th anniversary falls on a Friday the 13th. They have the church reserved and the hall is reserved by someone in the family that day...they will be contacting her to see if they can have it. :)

This is what I was so excited about on Facebook! I can't wait to be able to see my parents, the people that taught me what relationships are about, tie the knot before God and everyone. More importantly, my parents are very happy.

We are truly blessed and we know that when we pray for things, God will give us what we need and will not give us what we cannot handle. God must know how much this means to us as a family and how truly important it is because we are 99% sure it's gonna happen. Of course, there is a slight chance that it won't but we're staying positive!!

SAVE THE DATE:

August 13th, 2010

Fred & Linda Tims Wedding

You didn't tell me how to live. You lived and let me watch you do it.