Wanting to be Married

 

My little granddaughter has determined what she wants to be when she grows up—she wants to be married. So, when she came to visit, I let her try on my wedding dress. Her great-grandmother wore it first, nearly 70 years ago. As I put it on her, she was shaking with delight.


It’s probably the Covid year that brought about her marriage yearning—she’s seen her mom’s career take place just upstairs. She’s seen her daddy stay home and care for her. While she adapted to wearing face masks and using lots of hand sanitizer, she was seeing much more—she was observing marriage in a most impressionable way.


She watched her parents work together, dividing chores, and helping each other under hard circumstances—and they loved each other through it.


Certainly, her child-eye’s view of marriage is incomplete, but she has felt the joy that comes when you have one another close and desire to be right where you are. It must have given her a sense of comfort and stability.




My granddaughter will likely forget these sweet words she has spoken numerous times with complete conviction. But I hope she never forgets the love that surrounds her or the dynamic power marriage offers when two people partner for the good of themselves and others. 


Weddings represent such joyful, hopeful beginnings, but as my grandmother told me when I got married, “Your wedding is just the first day of your journey together. Make sure you always share the same suitcase—that way you’ll have all you need in one place.” 


Grandma’s words didn’t make much sense in the beginning, but the longer I’ve been married, the more I appreciate the idea of sharing “one suitcase”—two lives together in one place. Maybe when my granddaughter gets married years from now, I’ll have some words of advice to give her. Until then, her family will keep loving her and helping her grow her own heart of love—which is the most important thing to carry in life's suitcase.





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