Hoohum… a bit teary eyed just preparing this post. This is one emotional blog entry.
My parents is celebrating their 43rd wedding anniversary today, 8 December 2009. Forty-three. That’s quite a long time.
As their ‘real’ child (they have lots and lots of children, hehe… more on that later) I know things haven’t always been easy on them. They have gone through a lot. My brother’s birth (my older brother is paralyzed from birth), family issues, character differences, economic crisis of 98, and of course, raising me (hahaha… kidding).
I often got reminded that no matter how beautiful your wedding is, how extravagant and how amazing the pictures turned out, all those pages of memories is nothing, zero, if you don’t have a great marriage afterwards.
Don’t get me wrong, I work in this industry, but seeing them working their marriage day by day, I often got reminded that no matter how beautiful your wedding is, how extravagant and how amazing the pictures turned out, all those pages of memories is nothing, zero, if you don’t have a great marriage afterwards. That is why, deep down in our hearts, we know there’s nothing more heart-warming like the sight of grandad and granny walking down the road, hand in hand.
Everybody who is doing weddings week in week out could easily got bored seeing the flowers, the dress, the pictures, the decorations, etc. But we are always inspired by stories of great marriages, where you know that ‘love’ is not just a phrase on wedding invitations, but often means tears, sweat and sacrifices.
I often said this to my couples just before I left them after the party, “Congratulations on your beautiful wedding. Let’s have a more beautiful marriage.” I say this by no means that I am an expert. Far from it. But only as a fellow married couple who reminded one another that the journey just had begun.
So to my parents, congratulations on getting through this far. I know, first-hand, that the road hasn’t always been easy. But I pray to the Lord that starting from now on, in your old age, only laughter and joy will dominate your days.
UPDATE: Just like it was meant to be, I bumped into this great companion article for this post from the New York Times: Married Happily (With Issues) – great read for us young couples.
Love you guys,
Edward+Francy
PS: We managed to get their wedding pictures. Now these, are the real-real vintage guys :) This how they do it forty years ago.
