Will here.
I love Christmas - always have. The lights, the cold, the fires in fireplaces, the friends in town, the family visits, the awesome food, the fantastic music... It never gets old for me.
But this year, Christmas means something extra special. Yes, it will be the end of a long and demanding semester, and for that I am grateful. What I'm thinking of, though, is much bigger.
Clare and I will be celebrating our first Christmas as a married couple.
As I write this, the night is passing into morning and plenty of work remains to be done, but I am just overwhelmed by my situation at this very second. Clare and I are married. Still totally blows my mind. We live in a quaint little apartment in the heart of Belhaven. We went and picked out a Christmas tree for our place yesterday and had to ask the folks if they had anything smaller they could show us. It was fantastic! We really are at such a unique junction in our lives together, and I'm just thankful for it - for all its quirks, its bursts of laughter, its understandings that the important things in life don't cost a dime.
When Clare and I were early on in our courtship, we used to lament the fact that there were so many years separating us from where we were then to that ONE DAY when we would, in front of God and everyone, be married. After feeling sorry for ourselves for a little while, we finally realized how much fun we were having just being right where we were. 'Besides,' we said, 'What's six years in the span of sixty?' How true that's been, even with the little time we've had.
But yes, I am amazed and humbled to be at such a spot in my life. Clare, you are wonderful - thank you for agreeing to share your time on this planet with me. That is just too cool.
So, in sum: Med school = finite. Challenges / Obstacles = come and go. Getting to spend the first of many, many Christmas' with the woman you love = just no beating that.
Welcome, December! You are always a sight for sore eyes.
Best to all of you,
Will
PS - Found a neat quote that I think is worth sharing. It's a Serbian proverb: "Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars." Just excellent.
Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts
12.02.2011
3.17.2011
Love is a Decision
Will here.
I asked Clare's parents for her hand in marriage at 6:00 pm in a little Greek place called Wraps. I brought a sunflower for Mrs. Gray-Lewis, a stuffed horse for Mr. Gray-Lewis (in reference to a really old laugh we'd shared in Vicksburg), and, naturally, a stomach full of butterflies.
The whole dinner was a blur. I can only recall little bits of what was said and what was eaten (I know I had a tilapia gyro - delicious).
One bit of wisdom that stands prominent in my mind was the advice, "Love is a decision." It starts as a feeling, as a hunch, as a little itch in the back of your mind. But, once it's been explored, once it's grown into something more than a hunch, once it's been put to the test by life's baubles - well, that's when it becomes more than a feeling. It becomes a decision. The decision to love and to love continuously is the biggest one that I have made so far, and it is a hard one to keep in mind at times. There are times when I'll think, Clare, you're really bugging me right now, and I don't really like you right now, but I do love you. I love you because I've decided to love you. It's as simple as that. I can rest easy in the decision because I know it's the right one. I know that after the tension of a moment or the frustration of a tough week has passed, Clare and I will still be together, loving each other just as strongly as before, probably stronger due to the testing of that love.
Love is a decision. I've made my decision to love. When Clare and I make it official here in a few days, then we will both have made that decision permanent. As if it could be any other way.
I asked Clare's parents for her hand in marriage at 6:00 pm in a little Greek place called Wraps. I brought a sunflower for Mrs. Gray-Lewis, a stuffed horse for Mr. Gray-Lewis (in reference to a really old laugh we'd shared in Vicksburg), and, naturally, a stomach full of butterflies.
The whole dinner was a blur. I can only recall little bits of what was said and what was eaten (I know I had a tilapia gyro - delicious).
One bit of wisdom that stands prominent in my mind was the advice, "Love is a decision." It starts as a feeling, as a hunch, as a little itch in the back of your mind. But, once it's been explored, once it's grown into something more than a hunch, once it's been put to the test by life's baubles - well, that's when it becomes more than a feeling. It becomes a decision. The decision to love and to love continuously is the biggest one that I have made so far, and it is a hard one to keep in mind at times. There are times when I'll think, Clare, you're really bugging me right now, and I don't really like you right now, but I do love you. I love you because I've decided to love you. It's as simple as that. I can rest easy in the decision because I know it's the right one. I know that after the tension of a moment or the frustration of a tough week has passed, Clare and I will still be together, loving each other just as strongly as before, probably stronger due to the testing of that love.
Love is a decision. I've made my decision to love. When Clare and I make it official here in a few days, then we will both have made that decision permanent. As if it could be any other way.
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