I wasn’t in the room when our 77-year-old friend, Oscar, saw his wife of more than fifty years safely home to Jesus, but I learned later that the one thing he said as he leaned in to kiss her goodbye was,
“Thank you.”
Nothing more. Nothing less.
Simply, profoundly, “Thank you.”
Incredibly, he passed away a few weeks later on March 1, 2006, just four days before Ryan and I celebrated our second anniversary.
I’ve carried Oscar’s parting words to his wife with me for all this time, turning the gratitude he had for his marriage into a lamplight for my own.
Oscar’s “thank you” challenges me to love and serve and fight for Ryan in such a way that he will always be thankful it was my hand he reached for as he stepped out into this life.
Thankful not just for day we made our vows heard.
But for every day of the imperfectly ever after we were given to spend making them real.
We are 11 today, and I am so thankful.
Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else.
xo
