It was already a hard day. It had been a hard week. It had been a very strenuous past few months. It was an enormously difficult task ahead. I was not sure, if I had the strength to engage. I was not sure if I actually had anything to offer. I entered the building, heavy hearted, weak, unsure and exhausted. I did not have any expectations. How could I? I did not see this going “well”, how could it? There was not possible positive outcome. There was nothing that could reverse the course of action that had already taken place. This sadness was a new part of life; and I had to learn to live with it. Despite the magnanimity of the task ahead, something propelled me forward, one foot in front of the other, I made my way to the meeting room; when something caught my eye. The Aisle. Through the glass doors there it stood. The Aisle. Seeing this caught me off guard. I opened the glass doors and there I stood, in The Aisle. I was motionless, I was speechless, I was breathless. It was one of those moments, where neither time nor space seemed to exist only emotions, thousands of them, a cacophony of soul piercing conflicting feelings occurring simultaneously and individually. I could not understand any one emotion nor feel it individually, and yet somehow I understood more in the that moment that I ever have in my whole life. Things were so muddled and yet coexistingly, so clear. The purpose of life, the value of suffering, the reason for our existence, the value of my life, were all illumined before me as I stood in The Aisle. This Aisle only leads to one place, one person. This Aisle in which I stood, was not new to me. I had been there countless times before. There was one particular time in which I stood in that very same place. This particular day was filled with many emotions. I stood in that Aisle filled with joyful anticipation, nervousness, a sublime ignorance of what laid ahead. I was wearing a beautiful white gown, veiled in a cheerful innocence. Beside me stood a man, a man who loved me. This man cared for me, protected me, provided for me since my birth. This man, was a man of integrity, a man of endless patience, gentleness and compassion. He is my dad, not was my dad. I remember clearly that joyous day when accompanied by my father, I was escorted down The Aisle. At the end or begininng of The Aisle I am not sure which, stood another man awaiting me. This exchange took place right in front of yet another man. This third man, more magnificent than the other two, was and still is waiting for me, and you and everyone. The Lord patiently dwells in the tabernacle. The day as I remember began and ended, right there in front of the Lord. As my father led me that day to the Lord and entrusted me to Him. My soon to be husband stood at the end of Aisle to make a covenant with me sealed in the Lord. Today my job was to prepare to walk my father down that same aisle, yet this time he would not be walking; rather his body would be wheeled. I was at the same church to help plan my father’s funeral. As I stood at the end of The Aisle and relived that day when my father walked me down The Aisle, I understood, where I was going; where he was headed. The day of my wedding, we walked to the altar, more specifically to Jesus. This is where life begins, ends and is sustained. I realized in that moment, that my dad on my wedding day was entrusting me to the Lord and now it was my turn to entrust him to the Lord. My dad and I will always have a calling to prayers of supplication for each other. This day was a vivid reminder of where I am to be headed, and which Aisle I am to traverse a plethora of times again until one day, I am walked down The Aisle again and hope to be welcomed to Heaven and rejoice with my dad. I blessed myself with holy water and headed into the meeting room, to prepare to walk down The Aisle, but not alone.