1+1=6

Matt and I crawled in the back seat of my parents' car this afternoon and headed North to Matt's hometown. It was time for the six of us to feast together and celebrate this wedding in the works.

His mother and father greeted us at the door with the same eager smiles I've known and loved for almost four years. The mothers scurried into the kitchen to talk about mother-of-the-bride/groom dresses while slicing fruit for salads. The fathers looked out over the lake and spoke of the freezing trends in past years. The house was warm with history and talk of the future. Matt and I smiled, watching and listening.

Over a meal fit for royalty we spoke of simple things - the weather, my fear of mascots, Matt's coke bottle eyeglasses from childhood - but also the deeper words that make a family. There was gratefulness and laughter and teasing and joyful, misty eyes. We prayed and shared and listened and reminisced.

This week we will each spend Thanksgiving with our own families, but those lines will soon blur. Next summer we will learn the dance of belonging to four extended families while creating our own family and future. For these things and more, I am thankful.