These last few days I've thought about Ted and me. How much I love him. How much he irritates me. How fun he is to hang out with. I remembered the vows I wrote to him on our wedding day. Many people were not able to be with us for our wedding so I would like to share those vows for you all to read. We don't have a perfect marriage. Honestly..... nobody does. But this is straight from the heart. And after almost two years of marriage, I love him even more than I did when I said, "Yes."
You've always been able to entertain me:
It started with the hello-loveseat, blue with green piping. We laughed at the man with bad hair, and ate the best and worst meal we've ever had. It was all part of the way it's supposed to be now. Your singing in the car to every song known to man, your air guitar and drumming your hands on the dashboard, your plethora of voices, and your dancing in the dark make me laugh until my sides hurt.
I didn't want to believe or admit that you were the one. I pushed you away more than either of us would like to admit. But you never let me go. You always fought for us. Always. I want to say, thank you.
Because to the depths of my soul, I long to love one man with all of my heart, mind and body. I want a forever friend to trust with the secrets and intimacies of me. Who won't judge or hold them against me. I want a man who loves me when I am un-likable and who has patience not to be angry with me when my initial reactions are less than perfect. I want a man who can see the divine potential I have and who will encourage me with undying faith to the end. You Ted are that man. I need to nestle in the warmth of your arms, to feel your breath on my neck and delight in the strength of your body holding me close.
Today we marry one another while we continue to grow in our friendship. We have the chance to start a new family, me and mine, with you and yours. Today is our opportunity to add to our list of achievements. I know marriages don't fail. It is people who fail when they enter into marriage expecting another to make them whole. Because knowing this, I promise myself to take full responsibility for my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness. I create me. I take half of the responsibility for our marriage. Together we create our union. With this understanding the possibilities are limitless.
I will always be grateful for our blue hello-loveseat with green piping. It brought me to you and I will happily grow old with you sitting on that couch laughing at your jokes. Because, well:
You've always been able to entertain me.
