When I was dating after my first husband died, I hit a rough spot.

My younger brother Mark happened to call on a Friday night while I was sitting on my deck having ice cream for supper and reading a Stephen King novel.I cried about my misfortune and he said, "Five years from now will this really matter?"At that point I thought it would.But of course it didn't.I reconnected with my former neighbor Ronnie and we were married 17 years ago today.Recently we traveled to Philadelphia for our son Ronnie's much anticipated wedding to his longtime girlfriend Jena.The wedding was in the middle of the city at a lovely garden and they had planned everything out, including a shuttle to take us from the hotel to the nuptial site.We packed up my dress, the suit, and the father-in-law, and we drove to the hotel. We navigated one-way streets and went every which way the GPS told us to."Get into the left lane. Now," I kept saying.And Ronnie repeatedly replied, "Do you want to drive?"We arrived in plenty of time for the rehearsal dinner. It was a lovely night and we were looking forward to our last son getting married.Our younger son, David; his wife, Theresa; and our beautiful granddaughter Addilyn were taking part, adding to our excitement.Let's face it, once there is a grandchild in the picture, the axis of your world changes. You think of your children merely as the vehicle to bring your grandchildren to you.The shuttle was due to arrive at 3:45 to take us to the ceremony, which started at 4 p.m.Cutting it close, you say?We thought so, but it was all detailed by a wedding planner.We were ready in plenty of time and arrived downstairs at 3:30. We went to the valet parking area where everyone is picked up for anything.I don't generally ask directions, but I did confirm that little fact with the valet.To pass the time, Ronnie got into many conversations with people, some who were going to the wedding and others who were passing through and saw this woman in a gown and heels sitting on a bench, all decked out with someplace to go.Time passed and I began to pace. Ronnie kept chatting with people about his son's wedding.I dug my phone out of my bag and looked at the time.4 o'clock, I realized with shock.I quickly texted our groom and said the shuttle hadn't arrived and what should we be looking for anyway?My phone rang instantly."You missed the shuttle," young Ronnie said."No we didn't. We were here."Not wanting to argue, he said, "Jena's dad is late, too."Then, "Hurry up and get a cab."Like a scene out of a movie, a cab mysteriously appeared. It was probably for someone else, but we jumped in and off we went.Turns out the shuttle picked people up from the street at the front of the hotel. Sure, the one time I asked for directions, I was in the wrong place.We didn't get the best seat and we were kind of grumpy for a while.We almost missed our son's wedding.Imagine if Jena's dad hadn't been late. Young Ronnie was so busy with the last-minute details it might not have occurred to him to look for us.As we settled down, we spent some enjoyable time blowing bubbles with our granddaughter.We realized we should have just taken a cab earlier in the day and we could have relaxed and greeted the guests as they arrived.Ronnie asked people to take pictures of us sitting on the bench outside the hotel, waiting for the shuttle.One of them posted it on the wedding photo app set up for all the photos. "They didn't know they missed the shuttle," the caption read.The next photo shows Ronnie trying to sneak a kiss, with the caption. "Still missing the shuttle ..."I was furious. I was ready to type a "poor me" response when I decided to show the picture to my co-worker Amy Burger. I expected her to be just as outraged.Instead she burst out laughing.Then I laughed, too.The bad mood was broken.Later that day our son David posted my very favorite photo of me helping Addilyn blow bubbles.What will matter five years from now? Our son Ronnie and his wife, Jena, had a beautiful wedding and we were able to spend time with family.Oh, and the one time I asked for directions, it didn't work out.