marriage, the ultimate union

We attended our first wedding as a married couple this weekend.
It was so fun to enjoy the festivities... Especially because it wasn't our day!
The wedding was so beautiful!
Duh, I was watching one of my closest friends marry the love of her life.

This reading was included in the ceremony and I truly loved it.

Union
By: Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance
to this point of commitment.
At some point, you decided to marry.
From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes,
 indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way.
All of those conversations that were held in a car,
or over a meal,
or during long walks –
all those conversations that began with,
“When we’re married”,
and continued with
“I will” and “you will” and “we will” –
all those late night talks that included
“someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” –
and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart.
All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another,
“You know all those things that
we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed –
well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time.
Before this moment you have been many things to one another –
acquaintance,
friend,
companion,
lover,
dancing partner,
even teacher,
for you have learned much from one another these past few years.
Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life,
and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband.
This is my wife.

I am so grateful that I get to share the rest of my life with my dear husband.
He is so much more than a best friend, a teacher, a dancing partner.

(yep, I'm sort of freakishly short compared to J... I never really knew until I saw this picture!)