Their Love Radiates

Yesterday, Saturday 4/26, I co-officiated Sabrina and Gary’s wedding with Father Alfonse Nazzaro, of All Saints Dallas, at SMU’s Perkins Chapel in Dallas, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

Have you ever seen an older couple, who have been together forever, and who you can see are just so in love, that their love radiates outward. There is really nothing like it, so much so, that if it were not rude or weird, I would go up to them, and ask them what their secret was. When I see a young couple, I wonder and I hope that they one day will be that older couple. So, how do you get there? I strongly suspect that Sabrina and Gary are one of those couples. I think that if we listen to them, we might discover the secret.

Sabrina describes their first meeting, in that most romantic of settings, waiting in line at the college bookstore, "After gathering all my books I stood in line behind this guy and we started to chat. We had so much in common and there was an instant connection, something I’ve never felt with anyone else. Right then and there I knew there would be a relationship between us.  When he was done checking out I yelled for him to wait because I didn’t want this amazing guy to slip away. That was the beginning of our wonderful and long relationship!"

So that was it. The magic of love at first sight, and they lived happily ever after. No, not really. Definitely, the magic of the beginning of a relationship is key. But you can't build a lasting relationship on this alone. As Gary describes, "Sabrina and I met when we were just kids, at the age of 19 and 20. We had much to learn and lots of room to grow as adults. As the years passed, we became closer and closer, loving one another more and more. We faced many challenges along the way..."

As Gary indicates, a real relationship is one where the couple realizes that it will always be a work in progress. A real relationship is one that evolves with the couple. A real relationship is one where you grow together, learn together, overcome challenges together. As Sabrina tells us, "I think what made our relationship so strong and last so long is that we never rushed into anything. We took our time emotionally to fully learn and understand one another. From the beginning we wanted this relationship to work."

How smart, how meticulous, how wonderful. Sabrina and Gary, you've got it! You have figured out the secret. May you continue to live the dream together one day at a time.