My children’s grandfather’s had wide differences and shared one incredible irony.

So, there were some differences.  During the 70’s my Dad was a faithful Christian pastor living on a small farm in rural Saskatchewan.  During the same time my Father-in-law was a Laos Buddhist living in a country reeling from war after war fighting for his very existence.

Unfortunately, I don’t know either of them well enough to say if they had much in common.  I would like to think that they would have gotten along.  And I’m sad that they did not get the chance.

But the one irony that they do share is in their major difference.  As I stated in the beginning my Dad lived in probably one of the safest places on earth; outside of a small Saskatchewan farming town where there had never been a known murder.  The most dangerous activity he was involved in was operating farm equipment.  He had no known association with any dangerous persons.  And yet he was killed in a home invasion by an escaped convict.  He was shot with his Dad’s gun.  He died.

My Father-in-law on the other hand was living in Laos.  In the 70’s he was a medic in the army fighting the Communists in a civil war.  He was thought to be dead many times by his family.  At one point after most of his group was dead he and one other soldier lived in the jungle for several weeks hiding during the day and walking through the sleeping enemy at night.  He had guns pointed at him, triggers pulled only to have the guns jam.  My Father-in-law survived beyond explanation.  He swam across the Mekong River with soldiers holding machine guns in towers while search lights panned the river.  He lived.

When my husband and I really talked it through and discovered this extreme irony we were amazed.  I know that these extremes exist in everyday life.  There are many people that would have similar stories, especially in my father-in-laws case.  But, what are the chances that the children of these 2 men would meet and marry?  I find it amazing.  Sometimes our histories seem to become very heavy in our house.  It has sometimes felt too much to have both of these stories collide in one house.  But the incredible family history we have between us for our children is truly amazing.

All I know is that I’m not God and I don’t know all of the intricacies and other paths that could have been taken, but to me it looks like for Pasith and I to be together and our children to be born my Dad had to die and his Dad had to live.  All of those guns jamming and sleeping soldiers.  The decision of Randy Mirwault on which direction he would leave Moosomin and which house they would stop at.  I only traveled four hours to the East to meet up with Pasith.  He had to come halfway around the world.

There are many reasons why I am fascinated by history in my own family and the world in general.  But this much “story” in our little family just puts it in a whole new category.  I am extremely proud to pass this history on.