August first is something deeper for me.
Ten years ago on August first, my father died of cancer. Ten years. What a long time. And yet, I can still hear his laugh. And even sometimes I still think to myself, "oh, I'll call my dad and tell him..."
Time is a tricky thing. No matter what, though - the date doesn't leave me. I don't dread the day at all. In fact, for me it marks the passing of time unlike any other day of the year. There is the "before dad died" and "after dad died". Like 9/11. After. My wedding. After. My DTS. Before. I can mark my life by the 'before' and 'after' of this event. Lots of people have an event that marks time for them. I have a friend whose home was destroyed in a fire and she once told me that she remembers life by 'before the fire' and after the fire'. Significant events (good and bad) have a way of marking the calendar for us. My fathers death marks mine. I am sure there will be other events like this in my life, but to date, this is the most significant for me.
Something else happened on August first that marks time for me. This one was five years ago. I had met Andy Baldwin in June of 2006 by email. In person in July 2006. In August- on the first to be exact- of 2006, he picked me up at the airport from a missions trip I had been on for a few weeks and after we spent several hours together, he asked me a question that changed my life forever. He told me that while I had been away, he thought a lot about me and he knew that he wanted to take our relationship to the next level. In so many words- he asked me "out". He had no way of knowing what the date meant for me. Only God knew. But God knew enough to redeem it for me.
Ten years ago- death. Five years ago- life. What will this August first bring? No matter what it brings- it always holds something that no one can ever take from me. Memories. And a handy calendar reminding me that life is short and some days are good and some days are bad. But each day is His gift to me.
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