A Good Old Fashioned Love Story

On Friday 2/21, I officiated Leonora and Justin's wedding at Caswell House in Austin, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

When I reflect on Leonora and Justin's relationship, it seems like a good old fashioned love story. Forget the fact that the groom was born in Verona – you can't make that up, or the fact that they met in a club that had Sharks underneath the floor (no Jets were sighted, but who knows...) Just listen to Justin's description of the evening of their first date, "It didn’t start as a date, but it quickly became one. We had so much fun together that night: we had a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, we went to several bars downtown and finally, we scaled a fence and broke into Barton Springs. It was so much fun, and a night I’ll never forget." (Bet you didn't think this would detour from love story into the petty crime genre, did you?)

Now listen to how they describe their love for each other. This is really cool. Justin says, "She lets me be me... She makes me happy. She makes me laugh (and laughs at MY jokes). She makes me want to be a better person... I love everything about her, and I’ve never met anyone like her."

Now Justin may be the trained writer, but Leonora bests him with her description, "Justin is the love of my life... I have never laughed so much in my life. Every day I feel like I love him more than the last... With him everything makes sense and love is all that matters."

So, when I further reflected on the love this couple's shares, I couldn't help but think of the final two stanzas in Sonnet 17 of Pablo Neruda's Cien Sonetos de Amor. I really think they embody just this:

Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde, te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo: así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera, sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres, tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía, tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way. Than this: where I do not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.