Wishin' It Were April Fool's

Since my guest blogger was not quite ready anyway,
I want to dedicate this post to 

My Moopsie and Poopsie.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 appeared to be just another normal, every-day average Wednesday all the way up to 11:00 pm. You know the kind... a slower, easy-going workday followed by heading to church to either sit in the services or work with toddlers in the nursery. After church, its time to eat or just relax and watch some Psych with my sister before heading to bed to get rest for Thursday. That's a normal Wednesday.

But that seemingly normal Wednesday became anything but normal when my dad called me at 11:00 pm. He never calls that late, so I figured something was wrong. Polly's grandparents are older and I was bracing myself for bad news about them. Instead, he told me that Moopsie and Poopsie, Polly's parents had both been killed in a car accident just a few hours earlier. If there ever was a time you want to hear the words "April Fool's" or somehow find out that it was all a huge mistake, it's a time like that.

I believe that the first time I met them was right about this time when I was 16, around 11 years ago. My dad was dating Polly and they came down to our part of Texas for Easter. From the very first time we met them, they took us in as if we had always been theirs. They easily and quickly became family.

When you have a blended family, it doesn't always happen very easily. To some you are merely their daughter's step-kids, but they made us their grandkids, pure and simple. We may not have been born their grandkids, but they made it clear we were the grandkids of their hearts. From Dad and Polly's wedding, birthdays, our high school and college graduations, Zach being born, Christmases in Texas and Albuquerque, and the family vacation in Arkansas they became a part of the very fabric of our lives that family forms.

Holidays were usually the main times we got to spend time with them. I will never forget that my favorite Christmas since I graduated and became an adult was the Christmas I flew home to Texas from Nashville and went on to Albuquerque. It had been too long since I had a true family Christmas and it was exactly what I needed that year.

Moopsie was one of the most caring, encouraging people I have ever met. She loved snowmen trinkets and taking care of everyone she loved. She was a great gift-giver. I enjoyed talking with Moopsie about food and cooking. After she got onto Facebook, we would email back and forth. One of my most precious memories of her was her response to a post I put on Facebook. I was feeling frustrated by the lack of sensitivity of people who asked "Why don't you have a boyfriend?" as if I could have decided I wanted one and merely snap my fingers and have boys lining up. She encouraged me to be patient, told me that I was special, and that she had no doubt that God planned to bring me someone special. She said that the wait was worth it. Considering her long, happy marriage of over 40 years, she knew what she was talking about and it encouraged me.

Poopsie was more quiet and harder to read; I wasn't always sure what he was thinking. He had dryer and almost British sense of humor and was probably one of the smartest men I have ever met, the kind you don't want to play Trivial Pursuit with because he knew everything. He liked Dilbert, Star Trek, and loved music. One of my favorite memories of him was when he gave me a hug and said quietly, "You know you are one of MY girls now, right?" Both of my granddads had already passed on so he was my last remaining Granddad; his quiet acceptance meant the world to me.

If I have been reminded of anything in the past couple of weeks it is this -

"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." ~James 4:14

We only have a short time to live. We cannot put off things that are important for tomorrow, because it may never come. Share the Gospel with people you meet. Tell your loved ones that you love them. Spend time with family. Laugh with friends. Make the call or write the email that you have "been meaning to get around to..."

By all means, plan for the future, but don't forget that it's not guaranteed.

And that too is no "April Fool's."