This is your second cousin Joe Young and his wife Dina. We just recently went to their wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful celebration of two people who are very clearly in love. I am sure that you will, at the time you read this, have some wonderful memories of them and probably lots of fun adventures with their children.
But I'm not writing this post just to talk about some of the wonderful people you'll have in your life.
I'm writing instead about something that I was reminded of at this wedding and in the picture above. Underneath that canopy at the back of the picture, there is a man that you can barely see. His name is Jeff Clark. Obviously, you wouldn't even know that he was in the picture if I hadn't pointed it out just now.
What this picture doesn't tell you is that Jeff Clark is Joe's stepdad. He came into Joe's life (marrying his mother) when Joe was pretty young and ended up playing a pretty big part in Joe's life. On this wedding day, I don't think it would have been possible for Jeff to be prouder. I watched him almost break down in tears on multiple occasions as he stood witness to the marriage of a young man who is a son to him in every way but biology. It brought me to tears myself.
I hope that you can take a little lesson from this, Liam. Looking at the surface of a place, a person, or a situation, you can never really know the whole story. There is always more going on behind the scenes that we can't understand unless we consciously take the time to.
So, when you're faced with a situation where someone makes you upset or does something that you disagree with, take a moment to reflect and wonder what pieces of the picture you're not seeing. There is probably something that you don't know that is influencing their reasoning and making their actions seem completely reasonable to them.
Love you lots little guy!
Dad
