An interesting detail in Marcela and Rich's story caught my eye. It reminded me of one of the most beautiful love stories in the Hebrew Bible. Jacob is forced to flee his homeland, fearful of the wrath of his brother, Esau. He then meets the love of his life, Rachel, and offers to work for her hand in marriage for seven years. Scripture tells us about those seven long years, "And they were in his eyes as a few days, due to his love for her." Rich tells us a similar thing about the love story he shares with Marcela, "Upon meeting Marcela I fell in love with her as she was an amazing person... I became more fond of her and the time passed so quickly that before either of us knew it, we were having our one year anniversary." So strong was the love of Rachel and Jacob, so strong is the love of Marcela and Rich, that it actually alters the sense of time of the lovers. How did they do it?
I suspect that once again both couples share a critical quality. They did not allow space to control their individual lives and shared destinies, and so they were able to able to transcend time itself. In the biblical story, first Jacob and then Rachel, did not allow themselves, their lives, or their love to be constrained by the space they happened to be born into. Jacob was not afraid to leave his homeland to forge a new life for himself, and to find love far from home. Rachel did not allow the fact that Jacob was from far away land to hold her back from loving him, and when he wishes to return to his homeland, Rachel gladly welcomes the adventure of now she traveling to a land far from her home. So too, Marcela and Rich. Marcela did not think twice about letting space hold her back from seeking the best education far from home, nor did Rich allow distance from the familiar to hold him back from pursuing professional opportunity. More importantly, they did not allow their cultural and religious differences to hold them back from forming a relationship reminiscent of Rachel and Jacob's love.
Marcela and Rich, what we wish for you is that you indeed continue to have such a close and strong relationship, where the space-time continuum itself seems altered, for the rest of what we hope are long and happy lives together.
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