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We had a family reunion, this past spring, in the hills overlooking Glendora. From the patio cover swathed in pale yellow fabric and the white paper lanterns casting a warm glow on the tables, to the smells emanating from inside the house, beckoning us to the feast, it was a picture-perfect Southern California evening.

All the aunts had prepared a traditional southern meal that called to mind the many we had enjoyed together when Mama Stella, Greg’s grandmother, was still with us. Now she and Christopher are no doubt eating and feasting at the table with our King! Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, milk gravy, black eyed peas, green beans and of course buttermilk biscuits with cornbread. Our plates were not nearly big enough!

The real feast however, was simply gathering and celebrating our common faith, a faith that has held this family together over the years bringing them from their sturdy country roots in Arkansas to the West Coast. Through the years of wandering and rebellion, Greg’s mother, Charlene, had brought him into this world. Despite that rebellion, she was never without the help of her family and because of that, the seeds of faith were planted deep into Greg’s heart and memory. Aunt Willie and Uncle Fred, who established a mission to the unfortunate of Skid Row, picked up the baton and passed it on. They showed to a young Greg a faith that is stronger and more resilient than any rebel’s heart. We were all rebels at one point (some still are); but not one of us can escape the roots that live in us.

This great family, this circle, now bigger with the lives of little Stella and baby Lucy, will hold fast together here on earth, and soon, we’ll join those who are waiting for us in Heaven. It’ll be better then, another family gathering and an even greater feast.

So we’re saving room for Heaven, looking forward to the dessert table that’s overflowing with even more than the one that was before us that night. It will be better than Elsie’s berry cobbler, Aunt Flo’s chocolate cake or even Aunt Willie’s croissant bread pudding with caramel sauce, black coffee, and ice cream with dark sweet fudge. Though that’s hard for the little ones to imagine…it isn’t for those of us that are longing and hungering for that part of us that is out of sight.

In the meantime, maybe just one more bite of that bread pudding…