For Jason and Alyson

As Stephen noted, Wednesday was the day given to visiting my grandmother. The last time I saw her was at my parent’s 50th Anniversary. Visiting with her was both comforting and disconcerting. It was comforting to visit our matriarch and to talk together about family and faith. It was discomforting to see that her mind is not as sharp as in the past and that details are easily lost from one moment to the next. Yet it was comforting to be able to say goodbye to her and to relinquish her into the grace of God and the arms of our Lord.

Today my mind starts to transition toward the other end of life, to celebrate the joining of two young lives as one. It is my prayer that Jason and Alyson will have a rich and fulfilling life together. My desire is nothing short of what I have been fortunate and blessed to experience with Evie, my life’s partner and best friend. Having a partner with whom to journey through life is not only a comfort but a joyous blessing.

I hope that Jason and Alyson will have the experience I have discovered again and again. The day I stood before the alter watching my bride come down the isle I could say with confidence that I loved her completely and fully. Yet as the time passed I came to realize that the love I had then paled to the love I had for my dearest five years later and ten years later. By the time fifteen years passed I realized that my love for my wife had deepened so much that the love I had for her 9 June 1979 seemed so shallow. Today, I can say that not only that about the love for her I had in 1979, but the same applies to the love I had for her in 1989, 1999, and even in 2004 when we celebrated our 25th.

Love is dynamic. It is rich and full. It expands and matures as we live through our conflicts and work to have a common life together. It is the surrendering of the self for the good of the other. It is seeking their best and joys above self. The passions may not be as intense as in the days of one’s youth but the appreciation and love of one’s soul mate remains deep and enmeshed to one’s heart. Such entwining of lives, of goals, desires, joys, pains, and dreams is what I believe stands at the heart of what Scripture calls, “and the two shall become one.”

Jason and Alyson, I know you will not read this until long after your day of joining and I wish I was a poetic wordsmith to I could say this with greater clarity, but on this wedding eve my prayer is simple, that God will grant you the same joy and life together as I have enjoyed with my life’s partner and best friend.