Safe. That is in lasting love. It was a beautiful day, and so much fun, too. The way our families so easily enjoyed the moment and felt the same delight. When you took each others hands and spoke your vows to share your lives, a lovely quiet filled the room. Behind you, that was some big harbor out the wall of windows. How the fog roamed through the scaffold of the Brooklyn Bridge and set upon the steely Manhattan skyline. Like an old black and white print. Then the moment you reached the street, married, how the sun sponaneously returned the full spectrum of color. The trees sparkling in the park across from the courthouse. Eveybody deciding where to have lunch. And you two safe as safe can be in your little boat. Life at its most promising, that sense of the good, the bridge crossed. The joyful meal in the same restaurant where the judge and Paul's brother dined two days before. How the maitre-d welcomed all of us without any reservations.
A stunning piece about slow and steady love. Your contributions together have a wonderful rhythm. So grateful to know and love you both, and thank you for how much this has moved me!!
Just the most exquisite piece - a love story that ignites my soul. So grateful to be a witness to two worthy people finding their hard-won soulmates & treating it as the miracle it is. & still reeling with delight at the weird coincidence of my having done volunteer work in 1978 with the gentleman who ushered you into marriage. Life is full of surprises, many glorious. Kudos.
Yeah, that's the rhetorician in me. We are trained in the history of such stuff. There was a literary movement in the 18th-19th century called "belles-lettres." It partly resulted in the trend of "epistolary" novels, which are constructed as a series of letters--like Frankenstein or The Color Purple. It also helped encourage collections of essays as a literary form.
You don't see a ton of belles-lettres forms any more--discursive stuff (discourse) and straight fiction have dominated in the last century. "Gonzo journalism" hearkens back to it in some ways. But belles-lettres is still around.
My second marriage has been such a difference from my first marriage, I am glad every day I had the nerve to make the leap. It kinda felt almost suicidal at the time. I lost a few friends, but I gained some too. I made a better choice the second time around. Now I regret taking so long to decide, but then again, I might not have met Jenny when and where I did. And she has made all the difference in my life. I hope you two are as lucky as we have been.
I ask myself that same question: did I waste my time? Or was I just positioning myself into the right place and right time for the stars to align? The good thing, of course, is that life got better. You got to be happy. And I get to be happy. And we're a little wiser, too, and possibly a little better to have around, after being knocked around a bit.
And I love a good epistolary book. Maybe it's time for a revival...
Tonya, you are absolutely glowingly gorgeous in that last photo of you and Paul standing outside the (I believe) courthouse. And Paul doesn't look so bad either... :)
Such a beautiful photograph at the end there. All that black! A color of commitment.
There is something about exchanges like this, the belletristic form taking over and entwining voices, that suits the gradual and incremental growth of passion.
Ever read the letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett? kind of reminds me of that.
Good luck to both of you. Blessings all over your brows. And baklava crumbs on your fingers. Thank you for letting us spy in on you.
A perfect blessing. Thanks, Tim! And thank you for the word "belletristic" too. I had to look it up, and now I realize it applies to most of the things I love reading.
How many couples could possibly write such a heartfelt and expansive tribute to each other and their love for each other. Bravo!
Thanks so much, Sue!
Here's to safe harbors and fate and undying love! (I love the photo of you two)🔆❤️🌷☕☕
Thank you, Kathryn!!
Such a wonderful story, beautifully told by the two of you! And a great photo too, both of you look very happy.
Thanks, Nina!
Safe. That is in lasting love. It was a beautiful day, and so much fun, too. The way our families so easily enjoyed the moment and felt the same delight. When you took each others hands and spoke your vows to share your lives, a lovely quiet filled the room. Behind you, that was some big harbor out the wall of windows. How the fog roamed through the scaffold of the Brooklyn Bridge and set upon the steely Manhattan skyline. Like an old black and white print. Then the moment you reached the street, married, how the sun sponaneously returned the full spectrum of color. The trees sparkling in the park across from the courthouse. Eveybody deciding where to have lunch. And you two safe as safe can be in your little boat. Life at its most promising, that sense of the good, the bridge crossed. The joyful meal in the same restaurant where the judge and Paul's brother dined two days before. How the maitre-d welcomed all of us without any reservations.
Such beautiful memories, each one. It was such a perfect day, surrounded by the people we love. Thanks so much, Connie.
YES!
A stunning piece about slow and steady love. Your contributions together have a wonderful rhythm. So grateful to know and love you both, and thank you for how much this has moved me!!
Thank you!!
You two are beautiful, all the way through!
Thanks so much, Sean!
Just the most exquisite piece - a love story that ignites my soul. So grateful to be a witness to two worthy people finding their hard-won soulmates & treating it as the miracle it is. & still reeling with delight at the weird coincidence of my having done volunteer work in 1978 with the gentleman who ushered you into marriage. Life is full of surprises, many glorious. Kudos.
There are truly too many serendipities to count lately. Thanks so much, Ellen!
What a great photo! Two real people, happy and in love. No pretense.
Yeah, that's the rhetorician in me. We are trained in the history of such stuff. There was a literary movement in the 18th-19th century called "belles-lettres." It partly resulted in the trend of "epistolary" novels, which are constructed as a series of letters--like Frankenstein or The Color Purple. It also helped encourage collections of essays as a literary form.
You don't see a ton of belles-lettres forms any more--discursive stuff (discourse) and straight fiction have dominated in the last century. "Gonzo journalism" hearkens back to it in some ways. But belles-lettres is still around.
My second marriage has been such a difference from my first marriage, I am glad every day I had the nerve to make the leap. It kinda felt almost suicidal at the time. I lost a few friends, but I gained some too. I made a better choice the second time around. Now I regret taking so long to decide, but then again, I might not have met Jenny when and where I did. And she has made all the difference in my life. I hope you two are as lucky as we have been.
I ask myself that same question: did I waste my time? Or was I just positioning myself into the right place and right time for the stars to align? The good thing, of course, is that life got better. You got to be happy. And I get to be happy. And we're a little wiser, too, and possibly a little better to have around, after being knocked around a bit.
And I love a good epistolary book. Maybe it's time for a revival...
Tonya, you are absolutely glowingly gorgeous in that last photo of you and Paul standing outside the (I believe) courthouse. And Paul doesn't look so bad either... :)
Thank you!! I love that photo.
Such a beautiful photograph at the end there. All that black! A color of commitment.
There is something about exchanges like this, the belletristic form taking over and entwining voices, that suits the gradual and incremental growth of passion.
Ever read the letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett? kind of reminds me of that.
Good luck to both of you. Blessings all over your brows. And baklava crumbs on your fingers. Thank you for letting us spy in on you.
A perfect blessing. Thanks, Tim! And thank you for the word "belletristic" too. I had to look it up, and now I realize it applies to most of the things I love reading.