Timing is Everything

When I was little, my dad used to tell me that timing was everything. I am certain he meant that asking him for something the second he walked in the door wouldn’t get me very far (totally get that now), but for the purposes of this story, I think it is a very wise saying.

Last week while watching the Today Show, Matt Lauer was interviewing the Pope at the Vatican.  It jogged my memory to a story I heard at my Paw Paw’s funeral that I never had heard before and I wanted to share it with you.

First, a little background. My Paw Paw was the most religious, devoted person I have ever met in my life. At the memorial service for him my uncle said, if Paw Paw doesn’t get into heaven, the rest of us don’t stand a chance. Ha!

But truly, he would go to mass and pray the rosary daily, was a Eucharistic minister, counted the collection, never had an unkind word to say about anyone and was a living example of holiness.

Another thing about Paw Paw is that he lost his wife on September 12, 1976 (remember this date) and was so devoted to her that he never remarried and always had a picture of her close by.

In 1987 Paw Paw had the great honor of being one of only two people from the Diocese of Shreveport to receive Communion from Pope John Paul the II when he visited New Orleans, LA that year.  (I told you, he was a living example of holiness.)

But what I didn’t know is that Paw Paw received this honor, something that I know meant the world to him, on September 12, 1987. 11 years to the day after he lost his wife.

Often I question the timing of something, why I didn’t get this, why I didn’t get that, but to me this story is a reminder that our timing isn’t always perfect. I cannot imagine a more perfect day on the calendar that this could have happened to Paw Paw and truly believe it was a gift from above. A sign that someone else’s timing is more perfect that our own.