Setting Sail into the Future

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In some manner of speaking, each of us, each moment of each day, is "setting sail into the future." Yet there are times and occasions where the change is obvious.

A wedding is one of those marked changes, and as I write, I'm on my way to see a nephew married.

Sean has grown up with my children. We think of him as a close part of our extended family and we thrill to see him marrying a darling girl who seems his perfect match. Someone asked me the other day if I had any advice for the new couple.

Where would I start? What have I learned in decades of marriage and more decades of observing other marriages that I could convey in a bumper sticker to a couple of kids who have seen little of the world?

"Be good to each other. Be patient. Remember that if you are having to put up with him (her), he/she is also having to put up with you." Oh yeah, I can think of some things, but what does any of that really mean to kids in their 20s?

It meant little to me when I was making my choice of a life partner, nor is it likely to mean much to them.

Perhaps the best advice anyone can give them is to make a mental snapshot of how they feel about one another as they take their vows, hold that emotional image in mind and call it up again in bad moments that come in the future, because they will have moments. We all do.

Congratulations, Sean and Ashley. May you always love each other as much as you do today and daily love each other more.