Firsts, Lasts, and Never Agains

The first time he saw her, blonde hair blowing in the breeze through the open windows of her ivory Volkswagen Beetle, she zipped by his family’s filling station where he had been working for the summer. He had to meet her. He hopped off the cooler where he was perched awaiting customers, left his post, and went after her. I’m not sure if he locked the door or secured the cash, but off he bolted in hot pursuit. He caught her up the hill on the outskirts of town. She had pulled over at the cemetery to turn around. And so it began. Introductions, small talk, getting to know one another, courtship, and in the not so distant future-marriage. What if he hadn’t gone after her and figured he had better just wait until the end of his shift? Would they have eventually met anyway? I can’t say for sure. 

Forty-six years later, a procession of cars made their way up that hill and into the cemetery lot. This time a long car in the lead. His last trip to the top of that hill. He was laid to rest just a stone’s throw away from that first meeting spot that steamy summer day when he threw caution to the wind and jaunted after the woman who would become his bride.

This year, they would have celebrated fifty years of marriage. Fifty years of supporting one another’s careers, raising three daughters, celebrating one another’s achievements, and grieving one another’s losses. In the midst of a pandemic, to commemorate the occasion, a quiet celebration seemed in order. 

The youngest of the three daughters, I picked up a coconut merengue pie from a favorite local bakery, and my daughter and I spent the afternoon with mom. She reminisced about the firsts, lasts, and never agains. 

Today is the last day of the year. The last day of 2020. This year has dished out firsts, lasts, and never agains for many of us in the form of loss of family members, job changes, and adjustments to life during a pandemic that sometimes seem foreign.

Tomorrow the calendar starts fresh. 2020 never again to be experienced. The clock will chime at midnight. And just like that, a new year begins. What experiences, challenges, triumphs, joys, or losses will it bring?

May all of our firsts, lasts, and never agains be anointed moments in the path of life the Lord has carved out and ordained specifically for each and every one of us.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV)

Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.” (NASB)

Romans 8:10-11, “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[a] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (ESV)