Week #34: And Now, For a Commercial Break

Sammy, Kathleen, Keith, Kayleigh, Sue and Steve

Week #34 is pretty exciting all around for our family, hence, I'm a little late with the blog

this weekend. My niece, Kayleigh, was married yesterday to a handsome fella at Ebbing Springs Church in Glade Springs, Virginia. My niece is a beautiful, sensitive, sweet soul and I wish her and her new husband, Keith, a lifetime of love, good health and happiness together.  As if that weren't exciting enough, Kayleigh will top that off today with her graduation from  Virginia Intermont College. 

Most of the McCormick family spent the weekend at the General Francis Marion or "The Lincoln" as the locals call it. The General Francis Marion is a beautifully restored roaring 20's hotel in Marion, Virginia, at the foothills of the Southern Appalachian Mountain range.  The southern hospitality here has been wonderful and the landscape in these parts is quite pretty.... lots of rolling hills, green pastures dotted with cows and horses, and more churches than I have ever seen in one place.  There's no question we're in the Bible Belt!  Smoking is common in these parts, but drinking alcohol is a bit more "secretive".  As one bumper sticker said, "I don't know Jack, but I do know Shine!"  The wedding was dry, but have no fear, the McCormick family was here.  We came prepared and drank our spirits, secretively, at the "dry" wedding.  Grandma McCormick's purse was so heavy that I grabbed it from her moments before she was about to be escorted down the aisle so it wouldn't weigh her down!

It is the day after the wedding and as I now sit  with Steve, Kathleen and my nephew, Sam, in TriCities Airport in Blountville, Tennessee, my thoughts  turn to Baby Girl Mulvaney, whose parents will be the guests of honor today at a baby shower in San Diego.  Matt's sister and I would love to be there, but since that's not possible, we made sure that our presents have arrived on the West Coast and we send our love and best wishes to Elena and Matt for a wonderful day.

Back to the original purpose of my blog... suggesting a nice name for Baby Girl Mulvaney.  With all that was going on this weekend, including our family celebrations, the Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo, I had a lot of inspiration for names.  But you know what?  Being with family and watching my own children and my nieces and nephew grow up, graduate from college, get married and have children .... well it all makes me very nostalgic.  Instead of proposing another name today, I have decided instead to share a special song that was commissioned for the Kentucky Derby about two years before Baby Girl Mulvaney's mom and dad were born.  I listened to it frequently while I was pregnant, and later rocked my first born to sleep while this song played in the background on an antique radio.  Years later, Dan Fogelberg's voice and beautiful lyrics still move me.

So I'm taking a commercial break this weekend to share the song that has such special meaning for me.  Today it makes me reflect on the beautiful southern landscape that I was introduced to this weekend, and along with a wedding, a graduation, and a baby shower, the lyrics really resonate:  "The chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance."  It certainly is.  Congratulations to the Bride and Groom, to the new college graduate, and to the parents-to-be.  XOXO

Dan Fogelberg