It was God himself who initiated the first marriage. The Holy Bible stated that so: “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
“The need to love and be loved is the simplest of all human wants,” says Charles Galloway. “Man needs love like he needs the sun and the rain. He perishes without it. His basic longing is to be the object of love and to be able to give love. No other need is quite so significant to his nature.”
Love is blind, William Shakespeare said so. “But marriage restores its sight,” Samuel Lichtenberg added.
Marriage counselor James C. Dobson offers this advice: “Don’t marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can’t live without.” Mignon McLaughlin also said: “A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.”
Marriage is forever. Once a person commits himself or herself to a partner, he or she is committed to that person for eternity. It’s not only poorer and richer, in health and in sickness but “till death do us part.”
“Marriage is not for a moment; it is for a lifetime,” Gina Cerminara reminds. “It requires long and serious preparation. It is not to be leaped into, but entered with solemn steps of deliberation. For one of the most intimate and difficult of human relationships is that of marriage.”
Recently, I had the opportunity of attending two weddings – two very special weddings. If you’re wondering why I considered them special was because in the first wedding, the groom is my first godchild. John Mark Solaña finally tied the nuptial knot with his longtime sweetheart, Louella Kristine Ulep.
As they walked the aisle, I was reminded of how little was John Mark when I first held him in my hands when he was baptized in the church. Those days were gone; he is now a fine handsome young man ready to start his own family.
I almost missed the second wedding because supposedly I had to attend a meeting. But the meeting was cancelled and so I had the chance of witnessing the union of my nephew, Jims Vincent Capuno exchanged vows with his bride, Cherrylyn Joy Cejas.
Jims is my first ever nephew to get married. He is the daughter of my sister, Evangeline and her husband, Emerson.
The good thing about the second wedding was that three of my nieces and two nephews were given important roles to do. Meryl Louise Tacio was the maid of honor. Audrey Ann Tacio and Ashley Faith Arriaga were flower girls. Lester Dave Tacio was the little groom while Justin Tacio was one of the groomsmen.
The wedding was simple. It was the simplicity that made the wedding solemn. As the officiating minister talked, everyone listened; when he cracked some jokes or two, everybody laughed. No frills, no big things, no surprises but only small talks, some giggles, and a few sighs.
As the officiating minister solemnized the marriage, the words of Ogden Nash came into my mind: “To keep your marriage brimming, with love in the loving cup: Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; whenever you’re right, shut up.”
“Chains do not hold a marriage together,” French actress Simone Signoret bared.
“It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.” Doug Larson is even more direct: “More marriages might survive if the partners realized that sometimes the better comes after the worse.”
John Mark and Louella Kristine, Jims Vincent and Cherrylyn Joy – all of them are still very young – in their twenties. Will their marriage survive in the long run? Who knows? Only time will tell. They may be madly in love with each other now, but no one knows about their future?
When he was still alive and was asked by a reporter about his long marriage to award-winning actress Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman replied: “You can’t get impatient with each other. We are all flawed, and you’ve got to love each other enough so that those flaws aren’t taken out of context.” Sounds a good advice for newly-weds.
Despite all the differences, the troubles, and the pain of marriage, people still get married. George MacDonald one simple reason:
“One of the good things that come of a true marriage is that there is one face on which changes come without your seeing them; or rather there is one face which you can still see the same, through all the shadows which years have gathered upon it.”
I want to say something for the two newly-married couples but I am not an authority on the subject of marriage – since I am not married. So, allow me to quote the words of Gary and Barbara Rosberg: “If things get better for us, I will love you. If things get worse, I will love you. If we get rich beyond our wildest dreams, I will love you.
If we grow poorer and don’t own much, I will love you. If you get sick, I will love you. If you remain healthy, I will love you. In fact, no matter what happens, I will always love you.”
For comments, write me at henrytacio@gmail.com
