The day after Jack’s Crazy Cool and Magical Proposal (totally earned ‘proper title’ status), I woke up super early… like 4:20 a.m. early.

It wasn’t a ‘Oh man, my kid is getting married and… whoa” type wake up.  Nor was it a “holy cats,” (because cats are so pious(?)) “there is so much to do because now there is a wedding!”.

Nope. Not one or the other.

It was more of a… I can see that soft glow in the space between the top of the pines and the dark of the night… I’m getting up. I’m going outside.

I need to sit with all this.

One child just graduated college, and is now a musician, working and playing the music he was drawn to… memories of him in awe of Miles Davis (Kind of Blue) when he was fourteen years old… way down yonder in New Orleans.

Another graduated high school and is heading south to go to a school that makes his eyes sparkle and draws a smile onto his face when he talks about it.

Yet another… well, okay, half a kid… who just asked someone to marry him.

And then, my girl… my first-born.  The one whose early shyness was forgotten when she could help others feel included, or special.  Or just befriended.

Her grandfather’s pride and joy.

My fierce, Little Miss Independent (“No! No help! I wanna do this my-byself!”).

This young woman – when did that happen? – has said she will…

And to a pretty great guy.

Oh, and I looked it up!  It is totally legal to marry a half-kid… if his name is Jack and you began your love story after prom.  Where you weren’t each other’s dates, and went with others in your friend group.

But found yourselves staying up all night, talking on a trampoline while looking at the stars.

It’s especially legal if some of your friends at the time – and even some of the parents of those friends – said it wouldn’t last, was a bad idea to start a new relationship as you were getting ready to go off to college.  You should just break up now, save yourselves the hassle of doing it later.

Yep. You got it.

Mac and Jack had people should-ing all over them back then.

They had to fight for it.

They supported each other.

Loved each other.

They texted and Skyped and introduced each other to their new college friends via computer screens in the common areas of dorms in Maine and Kentucky.

And then they came together, down in Kentucky, to finish college.

Embraced by friends (and professors and administrators!) who not only believed in their love, but celebrated it.

There were more than a few good-natured “about time!”s in the comments on Facebook when Mac announced their engagement.

Back then, before they went off to separate colleges at the end of that first summer, with just themselves and a few close friends and family members rooting for them, Jack asked Mac to put her faith in their love.

And they hugged through tears.

But she did.

And he did.

And even if she doesn’t remember a thing he said the other day, when he proposed… I do.

He reminded her of that day, back then, when he asked her to put her faith in their love.

And he told her he was asking her to do it again.

For, like, ever.

Those were the things I was thinking about, as the sun broke wide open over the trees and water that next morning…

Setting fire to the waters of my dock…

And wHispering to all the world about the possibilities contained in a brand new day.

Thanks for readin.

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