This past Memorial Day weekend was a very special one for us for many reasons. Grant and I were on our way to church Sunday morning when we received a text from Grant’s dad, Preston, telling us “Happy 11th Anniversary!” For a moment, we looked at one another in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about. Then we realized what he meant. . .it was exactly 11 years to the day, that Grant and I met each other.

My memories of the day I met Grant aren’t as clear as I’d like them to be. I didn’t know the day I met him was going to forever be significant in my life. Grant and his parents had made a special trip to Beaufort, SC from Texas. They were there to visit his dad, Kelly’s, memorial marker in the Beaufort National Cemetery. It was Memorial Day weekend, and it was the first time Grant was visiting his dad’s marker since the memorial service after his tragic plane crash. Grant was seventeen, and I was sixteen. Our families went to lunch together after church.

I remember glancing at him from across the restaurant. He was tall, lanky, and very “Texan.” I’ve written about meeting Grant before, and you can read that here. 

This past Sunday, I was reminded how the Lord often works in ways we do not expect. I had absolutely no idea the day I met Grant that he would one day be my husband. Grant and I shared a brief hello then, and we wouldn’t speak to one another again for seven years.

Memorial Day weekend is also particularly special for us because of the death of Grant’s dad. Not only that, Grant served in the Marine Corps for 4 1/2 years and we have dear friends and family who are serving now. Memorial Day is not just a day off – it’s a day to remember and thank God for those we have given their lives so that others may enjoy freedom.

Grant’s birthday is always right around Memorial Day, but this past year, it fell on Monday. We celebrated his birthday by visiting the Creation Museum right outside Cincinnati and thanking the Lord for his goodness in our lives.

The past couple years, we were in Beaufort for (or around) Memorial Day, and were able to visit Grant’s dad’s memorial marker. We weren’t able to do that this year. When we arrived home from our day at the museum, my mom sent me something she had written about Grant’s dad.

There really are no words to express how touched Grant and I were by what she wrote. It was as if she explained so many of the feelings we were feeling that day but didn’t know how to share.

Here is her post: A Man I Never Knew