On his 50th anniversary they were asked this question:
What has made your marriage so enjoyable and strong
In this day and age…when many marriages fall apart…
How is it you’ve stayed together for so long?
They paused for but a moment
then the same thought entered their heads.
“I believe what has kept us together so long
has to do with dreams” he said.
“I had a dream about where my life would go
and what I was going to do
and I’m sure before I knew her
my wife had her dream too.”
“But the secret to our marriage”, she continued
“something we both long ago realized
was not only that our two dreams came together
but how they harmonized.”
The gift he gave her on their wedding night before they drifted off to sleep
was a book…an empty book…which she didn’t get to keep.
I will keep this book, he told her and throughout life’s different stages
whenever I shall make you sad…I’ll write it on these pages.
I will record it in this book…indelibly…in pencil or in pen
so I’ll be sure I’ll never make you sad that way again…
It was a beautiful gesture…and she still remembers his look
that night…so many years ago…when he didn’t give her that book.
But life has a way of moving on…like an eagle it takes flight
and she never gave a second thought to the book he mentioned that night.
Until after a lifetime together he was gone…and she was cleaning out his drawer
when she happened on that little book she remembered from before.
It was a little weathered…worn around the edges…she thought as instinctively she sighed…
It’s a little wrinkled here and there she mused…but, you know what…so am I.
And just as he had promised…written in this pad
were the dates and times and reasons he had ever made her sad.
Chronicled together…her heart aching at the sight
were a lifetime of disagreements, little squabbles…little fights.
Completed in his handwriting some in pencil…some in pen
all followed by the same pledge…This will never happen again!
She held the book close to her heart…and shed some silent happy tears
when she realized he hadn’t made an entry
in over 30 years.
His vows were sweet and simple
when they became man and wife…
“I will cherish you forever,” he said
“for you are the love of my life.”
They never regretted their decision to marry…
there never was a doubt…
for they found someone easy to live with
whom they could not live without.
An old married couple was asked one day
what made their marriage so strong…
What has kept them together all of these years?
Why has it lasted so long?
They immediately began describing moments…
moments neither one would dismiss…
When he wipes a tear from my cheek….
When she sneaks up and steals a kiss.
When he hugs me for no reason at all…
When we pass and she touches my hand…
The scent of her on on my clothing…
A walk on the beach with our toes in the sand…
How he brushes the hair from my face…
The way she calls out my name…
The smile on his face when our eyes meet
The smile on hers is the same…
They went on and on for a while
with too may reasons here to report
proving a marriage so vibrant…so long
is made up of countless moments so short.
They were asked:
what makes your love so easy
so innocent,
so beautiful…
so vast?”
They answered:
Every day we treat each other as if it’s the first day we ever met,
and
as if it is our last.
How beautiful is a heart that loves…what a wondrous sight to see…
instead of trying to restrict it…we should seek to set it free…..
They fell in love in Roman times because that’s what lovers do
They meet, and in some inexplicable way…their love comes shining through.
When two people are lucky enough to find each other,
they find love does not confine
It doesn’t follow a set of rules,
it has no borderlines…
They fell in love in Roman times because that’s what lovers do
but they could not get married…for back then it was taboo.
Two women cannot fall in love…it is not right they’d say
But these two women were not listening…love found them anyway.
Their love was pure and innocent…flowing honestly from the heart
It was universal and unique…
their love…a work of art.
They fell in love in Roman times because that’s what lovers do…
They remained together all their lives before they bid this world adieu…
For love brought them together…never again to be alone…
and here they lie together…their love immortalized in stone.
She fondly remembers the day he proposed to her…
how her heart he won…
When he started listing all the things…
things he’d never done
“I’ve never seen the Taj Mahal” he said, “I’ve never been on skis.”
“I’ve never ridden a ferris wheel…I’ve never sailed the seven seas.”
“I’ve never climbed a mountain…I’m not sure I’d know how.”
“I’ve never eaten Lucky Charms…never milked a cow.”
“I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon…never owned a parakeet.”
“I’ve never ridden a camel…I’ve never eaten beets.”
“I’ve never been on the Golden Gate Bridge…never seen a crocodile.”
“I’ve never watched a 3D movie…never ran a mile.”
“I’ve never seen a desert.”…here she interrupted him saying, “Let me stop you if I may...
what are you trying to tell me…what are you trying to say?”
“What am I trying to say?” he answered…as he got down on one knee
“I’m trying hard to ask you…if you will marry me.”
“But why list all these things you’ve never done, she asked…
that’s a funny thing to do?”
“Because there are so many things I’ve never done,” he said…
that I want to do with you.”
And they have spent their life together…
together….having fun…
And now they fondly look back together…
at all the things that they have done.
He did not talk about his feelings
instead…he hid them all away
and when she pleaded with him to talk to her
“It’s not what I do!” he’d say.
“But that is what lovers do!”
“They talk to one another.” she would say.
Yet, he would never listen…
til one day…
she went away.
Leaving him to ponder
as he sits alone today…
why the ones who are closest to us
should not be kept farthest away.