Today is throw back Thursday and this photo popped up in my memories on Facebook. The day was a celebration of my mother’s second marriage. She’s the one with the bouquet in the middle. The others include my two beautiful daughters – Amy at about age 16 is in the back and Joy in the front at about age 10. My lovely sister, Carol, is wearing the hat and her husband, Bruce is next to her. There I am, between Carol and my husband Paul. Paul was sporting the Bob Ross hair and a suit and tie, which he never wears anymore.

This brought many thoughts to mind. Today I pray for my brother in law, Bruce as he undergoes heart surgery. I also pray that God will give my sister and her family the strength to get through all of this.

The photo doesn’t show my son, Bob, (age 14) who was angry that his grandma was getting married again, so he wouldn’t attend the wedding. He had fond memories of my dad. My two nieces are not pictured either. I’m not sure where they were.

Family can be such an important asset in building who we become. Our memories of good times and bad all mold us into our future selves. In this photo, I see five strong wonderful women. My mother is at the center of that. She started the ball rolling when my sister and I were just wee ones. She taught us, and we taught our children, the importance of being persistent, patient, compassionate and strong. The men we chose to marry were both filled with the same kind of virtues. We’ve survived many years of marriage. We’ve created our own families and forged a new line of people with those values already instilled in them.

We’ve all changed a lot since that picture was taken. My mother is in heaven. My children have children of their own. My husband no longer has hair on his head, so this is a great reminder that he once did. We’ve all changed physically, but the tie that binds us and gives us hope for the future has grown out of our faith in God.