My father passed away in June, 1993. I was
not as close to my Father as I would like to have been. I was
born in October, 1955. My parents got divorced when I was an
infant in 1956. My Father was in the Coast Guard for over 20
years. I was raised by my Mother and saw my Father when he would come
to the town where I was living which was about 2 weeks every other
year.
I moved away from that town in 1982 and I returned in
1995. While I was in that area, I married a wonderful man whom I'm
still married to. We had decided that because neither one of us
had a church wedding before we would like to get married in a church.
We looked at several different churches and decided that what we
wanted was something that was simple and well just "US". Then we
found the perfect church for us.
We choose a small neighborhood
church and I never told anyone the name of the church we decided on or
the ministers name. I sent out the invitations and we had
everything ready to go. The minister talked to us like he had know us
all of his life. I felt that I knew him too but couldn't quite
put a finger on it at the time.
I have a sister that is almost
10 years younger than me. She was raised by my Father and her Mother.
Since the passing of our Father we have gotten to be close. Well the
wedding day came and all was going great. All of the guest had arrived
and were seated as they awaited my entrance.
I felt
fine...guess it was the wedding jitters...LOL... Then the doors opened
for me to walk down the aisle. I chose my son to walk me down
the aisle. There they were, all my tears that I had been holding
back. I felt the most peaceful sensation that I had ever felt
before in my life. It was warm, glowing and so peaceful. I
had my son on one side of me and my Father on the other side.
Even though my Father wasn't at my side in body, I felt his
presence that day as an angel.
After the wedding we talked to
the minister and he said that he could feel a presence there. I know
that my Father was so proud to walk me down the aisle. Later I
found out that the church we were married in was the church my Father
attended up until the day he passed away. I also
discovered that the minister who married my husband and I was also one
of my Father's closest friends.
The minister didn't know who
my Father was until after the ceremony. My sister told me, while
were still at the church taking some photographs, that the minister
was my Fathers friend and that this was the church my father
attended.
From that day forward we continue going to the
church where we got married at and back to the place I felt my
father's presence.
