White

On Saturday I went to my very first, honest-to-God, no-doubt-about it White Wedding. I've possibly been to one other but I can't really be sure. No, this bride was not 16, or 18. She was 27.

You know what? There was just something so innocent, so sweet, so....joyous about the celebration. I know all weddings are supposed to be but there was just something special about this one. I was genuinely thrilled for these two beautiful people. There was no time for regrets, no time for wishing that things were different. Every thought was focussed upon the bride and groom and sending them every good thought and wish for their life together. I know that their white wedding doesn't automatically guarantee that their life will always be rosy. They will still have their hard times. I just hope that they will learn that love is a verb, that love is a decision you make every day - despite your feelings, that there will be days where the feelings are definitely not there and, as the pastor said, they will find themselves wondering, "How can someone so beautiful also be so STUPID!" :)

Because loving someone can often be hard, and it's the little things that were so endearing in the beginning that make you want to scream ten+ years down the track. In the beginning you overlook all the crazy little things that are slightly annoying but endearing at the same time because you are so head over heels and besotted with this person who seems to have dropped right out of heaven into your world just to make you happy. Sooner or later though reality hits and you are daily dealing with these things that were once slightly annoying and have now become a major issue and threaten to send you totally around the bend.

I love listening to married couples like my parents who have been together for well over 40 years. I love listening to their stories of how they have weathered the hard times and come out the other side stronger and more committed to each other than ever before. I look back on my parents marriage and see the example they set. I never really saw fights and arguments. I never heard my parents yelling and screaming at each other. I do know that there were really hard times though - health issues, terrible financial stresses, raising 7 children on only one income, seeing 7 children through the teen years. I know that there were times of terrible tension between the two of them, but somehow the tensions were resolved and I never knew how or why. I should sit with Mum and ask her actually.....I'm sure I could learn a few things.....

I look at Mum and Dad and I see a deep love between the two of them that isn't demonstrated by open public displays of affection but by the way in which they relate to each other on a daily basis. I know my Dad thinks my mother is the most beautiful woman in the world and pretty much adores the ground she walks on...but he never says it.....I just KNOW it. Mum, in turn, loves and respects Dad in a beautiful way. She is behind him 100% in everything he does...even if she may not necessarily agree with him. She is there, supporting him and encouraging him...never, ever saying, "I told you so!" or "Well that was stupid!" if things go wrong. She just hangs in there with him. All the time.

I hope our newly married couple from the weekend can have something like that. The world needs more couples like my Mum and Dad.