No sooner does one member leave the extended family than another (bless her) joins it.
May’s a big month for weddings; and by and large, the men in my immediate family seem to favor it.
Not sure there’s any deep-seated reason for that. Maybe we all want to get things over with as soon as the weather’s favorable, and early enough that our summers stay free. Or maybe, generation after generation, some occult hand keeps our venues of choice free in May so we can each find an open date.
Anyway, my older brother is the latest to board the May train. By the time you read this, he will be two days married. I am flying out to San Francisco to be there for the big day, and am much looking forward to it. (The big day, not the flying.)
I’ve been on the same train a while myself. Two days after this post goes live, I will mark my 20th wedding anniversary. My wife and I were only a year out of college when we got married, and I suspect we chose our date so our friends who were still in school could come out and join us before they scattered for the summer.
My grandpa and grandma picked the first half of May as well, for reasons lost to history. They were married for almost 60 years.
This week’s calendar entry finds them at the same point in time I’m at now:
May 3, 1961. I wonder where they went out to eat.
I would love to be able to tell you how to make a marriage last for 20 years, much less 60, but I am devoid of wisdom or vision. I just get up every morning and go to sleep every night and somehow the years go by.
(Of course, many of my readers have been married longer than I have and have no need for my advice. I’m just saying that I searched my soul and found nothing. It’s happened before.)
My brother and his wife invited their friends and siblings to share their thoughts on love and marriage — to email them to the celebrant for inclusion in the ceremony. My thoughts didn’t figure into it, because I couldn’t come up with any.
I briefly considered inventing a friend for Eric and sending in something absurdly flowery: “Eric’s friend Hassan says, ‘Love is like a welter of gleaming pearls, radiant in their brilliance. No, diamonds!'” But then I decided that pranking my brother’s wedding ceremony was probably a classless thing to do, so I kept my mouth shut. Except on my blog.
I dunno. Maybe there isn’t a fancy formula or mission statement that captures the soul of marriage. Maybe it’s different for everybody. Or maybe the secret is buried so deep in the stream of days and months that it’s hard to see.
At any rate, whatever it takes to keep two people happy together and pulling in the same direction, I hope my brother and his wife discover it together.
And I hope it only seems like months before they go out for their own 20th anniversary.
The young people at the reception table sitting near us, asked how we stayed married for almost 43 years, and then the Jacobellis’s revealed they were married for 42 years too. I didn’t have a good response to this question, and the young couple asked if it was saying “yes” to everything. Uncle Steve said, “No, we are very honest with each other, even if it’s not what the other wants to hear..” Not a show stopper idea for a wedding either (although good advice, I think). Anyway, Eric’s wedding was wonderful, as was yours. Also, Brandon’s wedding was in May, and I’m not even sure of the exact date because they were married on a day prior to the ceremony. I wasn’t married in May but the month does seem to hold a magical quality for lasting weddings!
Why am I the only one who commented on this entry?
I dunno, but I guess Eric is mostly on his own for advice. He’ll have to figure it out himself.
I’m just catching this after a honeymoon. Almost one month in and we are still going strong, for anyone keeping score at home. Spain is great but I imagined we could’ve traveled anywhere and loved it. Thanks to everyone for coming!
Guess Eric & Danielle found their own formula! As my part for support, I have transplanted the wedding memento plant twice (after carrying it back to New Paltz!