"For Every Cross....

.....Is a resurrection." No truer words have ever been spoken.

I attended the wedding of my cousin yesterday, and of course I sat through the mass wondering what about this wedding I was going to blog about. Lucky for me, I was given ALOT to write about, now it is all about just filtering out the best parts.

When Foster and I took our seats at the church, I looked at the beautiful black and silver program and noticed that the priest was Joshua Wagner. Father Wagner is a thirty something Catholic priest who does stand up. No joke, you can find him on www.friggenhilarious.com. He has some great clean humor, and goes around with the "White Collared Comedy Tour", yes a spin off of the Blue Collared Comedy Show, but instead of hillbillies it is Catholic priests doing stand up. I first met Father Wagner at a young adult retreat a few months ago, and he had me rolling at times, so I was very interested to see how he would spin a Catholic wedding which are know to be pretty traditional, and LONG. He did not disappoint!

I was looking forward to seeing him at the reception, because I wanted to thank him again for the great retreat, ask him when his next one was, and just catch up. As I approached him, his face lit up with a smile, and he recognized me. I figured he recognized me from a few months ago, but I was suprised to find out that was not the case. He had clicked onto my link for Rosie's story on the faces of loss website through facebook. He was impressed by my writing and my faith in God. We talked for a while and I told him how so many good things are coming to pass through the loss of my daughter, and how it was definitely helping me heal. I mentioned the Non-profit group I am getting involved with, my writing, and the policies I am changing. He responded, "That is wonderful! For every cross is a resurrection." How powerful and insightful! So wise for such a young man.

It is true, although we may not understand the reasoning and it may take us a while to see through our anger and grief, but good can usually come from bad. Whether it is a life lesson learned or a policy change, there can be good in everything.

Case in point, I had my meeting with Kam from Back in His Arms Again. I am getting rolling with it, and very soon this organization is going to be a very large part of my life. We were brainstorming fundraiser ideas, board meeting topics, etc. I am so excited to jump head first into this ministry. I can see what great things they do for parents during the worst experience of their lives. So, if any of you have fund raising ideas let me know. I was thinking about a silent auction dinner or something similar.

The wedding was beautiful, the food was amazing, and most important, the bar was open. I told Foster ahead of time that I was planning on getting a little tipsy. By the end, I was a little more than "a little tipsy" and God love my husband for putting up with me. When I drink I become more affectionate and more talkative and louder, if you can imagine that. He rolled with the punches and laughed at me when I woke up this morning with the worst bruises above my knees I have ever seen. I would share the story, but I am not sure if I am quite ready to recap my unfortunate drunk moment, but it is a funny story. I will post pictures of my knees tomorrow. He drove me all over kingdom come when I wanted to meet my cousins out at the bar following the reception but was ecstatic when I saw the line at the bar downtown and told him to turn around and go home, because I did not want to be packed into a hot bar with a bunch of hot smelly people. He was happy, cause he was sober and tired and did not want to be in that environment either.

I am so happy for my cousin. The newlyweds were so happy and I don't think the smiles left their faces all night. It makes me reflect on the happiest day of my life, our wedding date.
There was a moment in the service both Foster and I became emotional. There is a tradition in a Catholic marriage to set a flower at the foot of the Mary statue in the church to ask for her to pray for your marriage. Foster and I decided that since we were pregnant during our wedding....GASP, a Catholic girl pregnant at her wedding!.....we decided I would place the flower and ask for guidance and for her to pray for me as a mother and Foster lay a flower at the foot of St. Joseph and asked for guidance as a father. So when the beautiful prayer "Ave Maria" started, and they made their way over to the statue, Foster and I both started crying. As much as you would think are prayers were not answered, they really were. I did not ask for a healthy living child, we asked to be good parents, and I think we are being good parents, and I am striving to be strong and an advocate for my daughter just as Mary was strong and an advocate for her son.