I can recall talking with my best friend on the day of my wedding. We were at the reception afterwards and she commented on how I had looked at him.
“You just stared at him the whole time the vows were being read, and you could just see the love in your eyes for him,” she surmised.
Recently I came across my wedding album, and as I looked at the photos I found one that documented the love my friend had mentioned. In the photo I looked up longingly at my true love’s face, and you could indeed read my affections in my gaze. But I realized that a lot had changed since that day. A lot.
This weekend we suffered through a stomach virus. It was the third one our family had went through just this year, and if you’ve suffered through sickness of the projectile type with your spouse then you know where I’m coming from. So as I sat in the living room floor at 3 am scooping up regurgitated scrambled eggs I was reminded of the messiness that is real life. It’s nothing like the life you imagine when you stand on the altar staring into the deep brown eyes of the one you love. I probably should have listened more to the “in sickness and health part,” and thought about the gravity of it all.