Stevie Wonder said it best.
“You are my first breath
My first smile
And my morning cup of tea
Yours is the love
That I pray for
Before I go to sleep”
I guess I have love on the brain. Several of my favorite blogs today were about love, all from a different point of view. One was from a friendship love point of view, one from a woman who is looking for love, and a few from established loves. Doesn’t help that I have one friend getting married in a week and my best friend just had a new baby girl. So many reasons to stop and think about love and marriage and joy, etc.
Marriage. A short word with a powerful impact. An institution. A covenant. A challenge. A committment. Something that I failed at once and am planning to do again. My friend who is getting married soon asked the question on FB about any advice to share prior to getting married. I couldn’t answer because honestly I can’t say I know. Maybe my true advice is that she should let their marriage be their marriage. Nothing but some deep soul searching both together and as individuals will truly work, in my opinion. Defining your home and your life as it works for you is the key. The Ambassador is working part time right now and taking care of our son full time. My sisters don’t quite understand that sometimes. It works for us because we are saving money and ensuring that our son is raised the way WE want him to be. My friend is getting married after a short engagement and a rocky relationship. The timing sounds crazy but who am I to judge. Hell, it took me 10 years to marry the ex and we were divorced in 3 years. Why is “traditional” correct? We should do what works for the people who have to do it. “Sweep in front of your own front door” as my mother would say. My other friend is engaged and asking questions about wedding planning. Everybody has a “if I were you” to add to the pot. Weddings are expensive and a colossal waste of money most of the time. Ask 2 people to spend a few thousand dollars on some counseling and some self-actualization (not self-help) books/videos/podcasts/etc and they will freak. Invest $10K feeding people so they can get together and talk about how nasty the food was and how hideous the dresses were and how if they were you they would have… waste of time. What kind of wedding do I really want? Me, the Ambassador, the minister, a beautiful sunny day and I am good (I thrive on sunshine- maybe it’s the fire sign in me maybe it’s just me). No painful shoes, no expensive dress to sit in the closet, no froo froo. Follow that up with a wonderful breakfast/lunch/brunch or whatever and I am great. Maybe I’m just lazy. Well, I am lazy but that’s not it. I had the dress up for the people and get the gifts well-wishes thing. I would rather have a few people there to pray over my marriage, not my wedding day. Maybe it’s me
