Fifteen Years Years Ago, Today
In the “Little Theater,” on the campus of Harding University, Jimmy Allen told me to love Suzannah as Christ loved mankind. That means, he said with a tremble in his voice, you be ready to take a bullet for her. We pledged to love, honor, and cherish. Then, an acappella quartet sang Joyful, Joyful, Henry Van Dyke’s Christian version of Ode to Joy.
In addition to these things, I remember my relatives (not a “Church of Christ” family) commenting on how that preacher sure took things seriously. I remember Dr. Fred Jewell letting me take my constitutional law final early that morning so that we could have the ceremony and leave for the honeymoon that afternoon. I remember that I had to go buy black socks because I didn’t have any clean ones to wear. I remember that it was unbearably hot and sticky in Searcy, Arkansas that day. But, most of all, I remember feeling great, like I had just won the lottery.
It may not be a storybook, but it’s our story. The “happily ever after” part is full of ups and downs and the little details that make three-dimensional reality different than the ideal in your imagination. The real thing is more complex, more ordinary, more heart wrenching, more uplifting, more amazing, more confusing — and more wonderful than I could have imagined.
Three children, 15 years, and countless memories later, I can honestly say I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Suz, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I’d be lost without you. But, you knew that, didn’t you?
Happy Anniversary.
September 25th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Belatedly, a deep and abiding thank you for this lovely post. Congratulations are in order.
Two months late, but does that matter?
Peace.
Gnade
September 25th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Nope. It doesn’t matter at all.
Thank you.