Reunions

I have been thinking of reunions all morning. I wonder why? Of course, anyone who knows me well, remembers that I am often captivated by the entire Heavenly realm,..but this morning, these thoughts are not always about Heavenly reunions.

When I was growing up, we had an old black and white TV in our kitchen on a wire TV stand. It was not on all the time, but only for some specific shows, such as the gospel singing show on Sunday morning called The Gospel Singing Jubilee. (..."Jubilee-ee! Jubilee-ee! Were invited to a happy Jubilee-ee-ee!")

But one time, over a period of days, we watched news footage of the Vietnam POW's being reunited with their families after years of captivity. I could not bring myself to leave the TV when those images were being shown. I was deeply moved to be an observer of such a profoundly emotional moment. The world was allowed to peek directly inside the hearts of lovers, parents, children, brothers, sisters and friends as they experienced the end of such a painful separation.

There are fantastic reunions on TV. Let's see,...there is...
Nemo being reunited with his dad,
Simba and Nala,
Lassie and Timmy (every episode),
Fievel and his dad,
The animals and their owners in the "Incredible Journey".,
there is a reunion of old lovers in an old movie (a favorite of my dad's) but the name eludes me,...
there are so many more!
If anyone reads this and has their own memorable feel-good reunion moment, either real, movie, or anticipated,..consider adding it to the comments so we can share it together!

I recall when Jae and Casey were about 3 years old, they went to Mississippi for a week. It was the longest that we had ever been separated from them. As the time neared when we would go get them from their grandparents, I became literally filled with excited anticipation. I could not wait! I woke up happy that morning, traveled with enthusiasm and arrived at our meeting point early.

As I exited my car, I heard them scream my name and watched as they both ran towards Ralph and I as fast as their little legs would go,..arms straight up. They, too, had been ready for the reunion, and were waiting and watching for us to arrive. There have been many more reunions of our small family, but for me,..few were as memorable as that one.

I do not dream often of Jae Lynn. Other moms have good dreams of their children who have died, but most of my dreams of her are unspeakably painful,...the accident, cemeteries, big trucks, etc... But one dream, even though it too was painful when I awoke, was all about a reunion with her. In this dream, I was called to an office and told that the entire wreck had been a mistake and she was "right here".
And there she was.
Right there.
As I embraced her and held tight to her, it felt as if I could finally breathe after having been held under water. My relief was greater than most emotions I have experienced awake.

In Heaven, I will see and embrace those I love. Our separation has been forced, and I suspect that our reunion will be noisy and emotional. In my study of I and II Peter, he constantly reminds us to keep our focus on our eternal future. I do try to do that, but my mind usually wanders back to what surely will occur near the beginning of eternity,....and that is,...the reunions.