Marriage is...
a candlelighted church and white-carpeted aisle;
music and flowers and happy, excited friends;
a soft handclasp;
the magic moment when the two of you alone
are queen and king;
a promise, a kiss, a prayer;
and waving goodbye to the others as you vanish
into a star-studded night...
Marriage is...
cooking your first meal in a two-room apartment;
paying the rent together;
an electricity bill addressed to
"Mr. and Mrs."
...and being able to say good night without
saying goodbye...
Marriage is...
suddenly celebrating your first anniversary and
eating frozen wedding cake;
it is discovering neither of you is as ideal
as the other first thought, but that now you
love each other "in spite of" as well as
"because of";
it is not being able to imagine what it was like
to be single...
Marriage is...
facing a crisis: an illness, a death, a loss;
it is struggling to survive, to hold a home
together despite war and poverty and pain;
it is working together, playing together, laughing
again together;
and finding that romance has been replaced
by a deep, steady trust of mutual
understanding and caring...
Marriage is...
parenthood, a blossoming of yourselves into complete
fulfillment;
it is diapers and 3 a.m. feedings and broken
knickknacks;
it is measles and mumps and chicken pox;
it is watching your very own children run and laugh
and grow until one day they, too, are adults...
Marriage is...
sighing in reminiscence and sweet satisfaction as
you grow old;
a little house in the country where it is just
the two of you alone together once more;
it is placing your knarled hand in his and leaning
a gray head on his stooped shoulder, and gazing
into the sunset;
it is living and dying side by side in happiness
and peace...
--5/24/69
