TheBanyanTree: Ghost Writer

[Maria Gibson]

My friend at work, Shan'non, asked me to attend to a bit of writing for
her.  She is to be a bridesmaid and is going to the bridal shower where
each attendant will take a portion of the marital vows and write
something about that part.  Her's is "for better or worse."  I took a
notebook to work with some things in it I have written, most of which
have landed here at the foot of the Tree at one time or another.  This
was a huge step for me and a little intimidating but the more feedback I
get the bolder I become and I keep adding to the contents of the purple
folder in the break room.  I was quite honored that she asked and, as
seems fitting, I am sharing my effort for her with you...........

_____________________________________________________________

In between a ceremony and a lifetime together lies a marriage.  Few
phrases sum up, in a brief moment of the wedding, the high expectations
we have of the history about to be created than "for better or worse."
There are many, many days and circumstances in between the highs of the
'better' and the lows of the 'worse.'  This vow taken on, the solemn
oath given to that special someone is that each day will be as treasured
as the other and each held up as a gift given and received.  You will
say to one another:

Give to me your best and I shall give you the same.
We will live each day from hour to hour and stack them up to create our
history, a lifetime of hopes and dreams fulfilled.  Our best days will
be waking to one another in anticipation of the workday and then running
back with eagerness when that task is done.  The longing looks and
shared secrets, knowing what will be said before it is spoken.  A family
begun and then a family raised and then a new dawn; all these, too, are
the best of what we will face together.  Our best moments won't always
be the lottery won or material success, we will make that measure in
many ways.  Knowing you are with me, knowing we can count on one
another, being able to share our very most inner self and come away
loved.  What is good and right for us will change as the years go by but
it's having you by my side that will make it the very best it was meant
to be.  I give this to you and you give it to me.

Say also to one another:

Bear with me the worst and I shall carry yours as my own.
Loving and forgiving one another when moods run sour and bills run deep,
babies cry loudly and dishes and laundry pile up.  Days when it seems
excitement has gone away, days when it seems hard to love and forgive.
We will be pull for one another when the world is coming at us with a
blade.  We will stand back to back and show a united front from all
angles so that what may have been vulnerable won't be.  Our worst may be
tedium more than adversity or may be as tragic as life is able to dish
out.  That is when we pledge to be there for one another, breaking the
fall and creating a place to safely land.   I bear this for you and you
for me.

Continue always to discover the treasure you found in one another, in
all that is good and all that is not.  Hold one another up so that even
those days, which may go unlabeled or unremembered, are among the best
simply for having been together.  This will be the foundation of your
love, your history and your lifetime.

___________________________

Maria