Some beautiful friends of mine asked me to write a speech for their wedding. This is what I wrote.
Michelle and Ben several weeks before the big day.
The magical thing about falling in love – is that you’re in total denial as its happening.
You cruise along enjoying single life, and then someone shows up unexpectedly.
You like them. You befriend them. And before you know it, that person interrupts your thoughts at the most inconvenient times.
You rationalise. “Oh, it’s the start of a new friendship. Of course they’re entering my mind a lot.” Yet that’s never happened before when you find a new friend.
You tell yourself “No it’s not love. They’re not my type.” Yet they still creep into your headspace more than they should.
Finally your loved ones speak up. “So what’s the story with you and your friend?”
“Oh, we’re just friends,” you reply. And your inquisitors politely let you off the hook.
BUT THEN IT STEPS UP A NOTCH AND YOU CONVINCE YOURSELF IT’S A FLING
This is when the cross-examinations get really interesting. “Oh, you’re spending a lot of time together. Just friends, hey? Oh, I see.”
SOON, YOU’RE MISSING THEM WHEN THEY’RE NOT AROUND.
Frustrated, you say to yourself “But this is not how I imagined falling in love would be.” And somehow you still give yourself excuses, but you know those rose-coloured glasses are slowly being replaced by a glittery ‘walking on air’ pair of spectacles.
After all, it takes time to let go of your ‘single self’, but when it feels totally right you succumb to sharing your feelings with ‘the most beautiful person on the planet’.
In the early months, you step lightly, getting to know each other and wondering how much to reveal about yourself.
But soon you just ‘fit’.
AND HERE LIES THE MAGIC OF KNOWING YOU’RE A COUPLE
Years go by and you still smile at those stories you’ve heard a hundred times.
Years go by and there’s not a day you don’t hear ‘I love you’.
Years go by and you both party hard while you’re in your 20s; do more dinner parties in your 30s; and then embrace middle age looking back with laughter, knowing all through it, you’ve been in synch.
And regardless of how many decades have passed, they’ve never stopped being ‘the most beautiful person on the planet’.
You’ve followed your dreams together, knowing with each other’s support – you’re invincible!
No matter what happens in that world you face, day in, day out – once you’re in their arms, all pain vanishes; all dramas are insignificant; for here is your safe haven for all eternity.
kevin klehr 