2/5/14

I was thinking about the marriage vows people acknowledge and take at their weddings.  I kind of equate it to what patients here when told about the benefits and risks associated with surgery.  Studies show that 50% of patients don’t recall hearing the risks discussed with them after those complications occur.  I’m pretty sure that most husbands and wives don’t focus on the “for worse, poorer, sickness, death, etc” aspects of the vows because the vast potential of unthinkable challenges aren’t designed to be contemplated and truly comprehended at the newlywed stage.

Maybe what should be included in the vows is “through and beyond unrealistic expectations, unbridled optimism, and uncontrolled naivety” along with so many other blissful products of our early imagination! I mean, are we really ready to accept that there is nothing that we can truly predict that will ultimately test the boundaries of life together no matter how hopeful we are at the outset?

I wonder how many soon-to-be married couples, if presented with the potential issues that life has waiting for them, would actually stand before God and accept the unforeseeable problems in store that will be measured along with the undefinable happiness.  There will certainly be no solace in knowing that other couples are facing their own unique obstacles and circumstances that test the fabric of their own existence because separate principals that form the basis of each individual story dictates so many different and unfathomable endings.

The bottom line I guess is that we know to the best of our ability that the person you look across from under the eyes of God is the one you can weather just about any storm that arises.  Life is not perfect as much as we would like it be and more frustrating, we are not perfect no matter how we measure ourselves.

I know that we have been at times weakened under the weight of the vows we promised to keep but in the end, I’m glad you have been with me as my wife with your hand still resting on mine.  You are by no means perfect (nor am I) but you are perfect for me even after all we have been through and all this time.  You may not have anticipated the path we would ultimately take but it has certainly been one “hell of a ride” through better, worse, and all in-between, and neither one of us could dispute that conclusion, you know?