Have I Told You About My Wife?

Here's a riddle: How do you marry a woman twice without divorcing her once?

Over three decades ago, I performed the wedding for Lynn and her groom, Gary. She and Gary moved on with their lives. I moved on with mine, jumping from one place to another. Occasionally we'd ask mutual friends about each other. But for the most part we lost touch.

Life went on, sometimes joyfully and sometimes sadly. Gary was a victim of cancer. My wife died instantly of a brain aneurism.

One day Lynn went to a homecoming at the church where she was a member when I was her pastor. She asked about if anyone had heard from me. Someone told her where I was serving. The next morning she called. I guess we talked for over an hour. Finally, I told her I had some appointments, but I suggested we ought to get together sometime to continue catching up. Her respose was quick and direct, "How about tonight?"

Turns out she and her sisters were spending a week at a condo in the mountains. The invitation was to get together with all of them. We met at a restaurant half way between and talked, and talked, and talked. Gentleman that I am I walked them to their car. And with a smoothness that defied my bumbling nature I maneuvered it so I opened the door for her last. Before getting in the car she gave me that obligatory hug. That's when I whispered, "Would you like to go out sometime?"

"I was hoping you'd ask," she said. A week later we did. Forty-five days later we were married by my cousin, a priest in the Church of England. (That was when I could say "I married her twice.") That was three years ago. And, believe it or not, after all this time together, she still loves me.

Lynn works for the Georgia Department of Public Safety. That feeds her tummy. She's also a stain glass artist. That feeds her soul.

Bench above sits in formal garden of private residence in Roswell, Georgia

She designs and crafts stain glass of all sorts. From kitchen cabinet inserts to border glass around entry doors, to framed pieces for hanging, her creations are astounding. Increasingly she is getting commissions from organizations and individuals to create customed stain glass art for them.

She has begun taking a standard concrete garden bench and turning it into a piece of stain glass beauty. Her benches are functional - folks can sit on them without damaging the art. They withstand the weather. But they are beautiful accents to gardens and other places.

An example is this bench to the left which was commissioned by a lady who collects items with lighthouses. It sits in her formal garden in Roswell, Georgia.

Above bench was commissioned by the Flippen United Methodist Church in McDonough, Georgia

The Flippen United Methodist Church in McDonough, Georgia commissioned the bench to the right, depicting an early phase of Methodism as a memorial to a deceased staff member. The First United Methodist Church in Canton, Georgia also commissioned Lynn to create several benches which included depictions of the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and the history of Methodism in that area.

In the future I'll be putting some other examples of Lynn's creations here. I'm proud of her. She's a gift and a blessing from God.

To talk with Ms. Parson about her stain glass send her an email. Click here.