Open Arms

It was an amazing day. 

A few days earlier our plans to have a relaxing ride on the train from Austin up to Oklahoma City, had been derailed by the need to take care of some unexpected foundation repairs at our house in Carrollton.  We were desperately trying to sell the house and any kind of potential issues that came up had to be immediately addressed.  The highlight of the trip was to be the graduation of my twin nieces from high school in Oklahoma City.  Now, instead of a care free ride on the train, we had driven to Dallas and were living in our house again with air mattress beds, hot water and electricity being the only things that resembled the comforts of home living.

The day started out working my ass off trying to make repairs to the house.  I had received a text from my niece in Oklahoma City, on the day we were scheduled to arrive there by train, asking if we had made it yet.  I informed her of the unfortunate news but assured her that we would be there for the graduation.  The new plan was that my son, who lives in the Dallas area, would meet us at the house and we would all ride up to Oklahoma City together and go straight to the venue where the graduation was to take place.  As the time approached for work to stop and preparation for the trip to start, I begin to wonder how my wife and daughter would be received by the former in-laws and their family.  Their grandson was still my son so it couldn't go too bad.  My sons mother, the former Mrs., was also going to be there.  I wasn't too concerned about her as she had met and spoken with my wife at length in the past.  The texts and Facebook messages from the twins indicated that all would be well, but would that be the case with everyone? 

The moment we walked through the door of the venue, we were greeted by the twin's father and were directed over to where the family was seated.  As I turned to look in that direction, they were already standing up and waving for us to come over.  When we arrived at the section each gave a big hug and turned in anticipation of the introduction of my wife and daughter, accepting them at that very moment.  During the ceremony we had almost constant quiet conversation with a couple of the former sister-in-laws setting next to us.  As these conversations were going on, I received a text from one of the twins, while the ceremony was in progress, asking if we had made it.  I answered "yes" and that we were seated behind her grandparents.  About 5 minutes later, as the ceremony continued, I looked in the direction where the twins were seated and both of them began waving to us.

As the ceremony ended and everyone gravitated to the outside, we had the opportunity to hug anyone else that we may have missed at the beginning.  We had several pictures made with the new graduates and each of them was a delight to see, especially since the last time I saw them they were still little girls.  It was decided that we would all meet at a local restaurant down the street to continue the celebration.

At the restaurant the introductions, hugs and handshakes continued.  Everyone was smiling and in a joyful mood.  We sat immediately across the table from my sons mother and her husband and did not feel even the slightest degree of discomfort.  I was enjoying the friendship and camaraderie so much that I don't even remember what I had to eat.  There was just an incredible air of caring and joy all around us.

When there is so much negativity and entirely too much life drama all around, how can something this amazingly positive and sincere happen?  I divorced their daughter/sister/aunt and yet all of them still considered me, and my new family, to be part of their family.  I have felt a lot of happiness in my life but this was the first time I had felt this type of happiness and what an incredible happiness it was.  In this increasingly vengeful society we live in, this was an example of caring and loving for other human beings.  Far too often human individuals take more interest in "being the winner" of a situation or in finding a way to "get even".  Humans can be our own worst enemies and at times it seems that we actually look for ways to make our lives difficult. 

As we were leaving, I spoke to my niece about what her university studies would be and congratulated her once again for having the best grades in her class of over 100 students.  I enjoyed being able to talk to her for a moment and to do so as an adult for the first time. 

Meanwhile, outside the restaurant, my wife had realized who my son's grandmother was and was telling her how much she had heard about her and how she was so glad to finally meet her.  Both were smiling like old friends seeing each other for the first time in years.  Myself, I was smiling for the entire three hour drive back to Dallas.