Lovin’ You

Saturday afternoon, I officiated Heather and Octavio’s wedding ceremony at Hotel Mazarin, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:
 
I ask every person I marry to write an essay about themselves. This enables me to get to know them better, and shape their entire ceremony. And their words also serve as the raw material for these personal remarks.

I can’t tell you how much I loved reading Heather and Octavio’s essays. They are so evocative and rich, and you can really feel the depth of their love for each other. With such beautiful writing, remarks like these almost write themselves.

 
Listen to Heather:
 
“I want to marry Octavio because I can’t imagine the rest of my life without him. After eight years, I feel like I know him as well as I know myself... He’s extremely caring, patient, honest, hard-working, and romantic.
 
He’s helped me be more patient, understanding, strong, and open to new experiences and cultures. We’ve both been ready to get married for at least a few years now.”
 
And listen to Octavio:

“I feel lucky and blessed to have her in my life, and have the opportunity to call her my wife and start a family together is a dream come true.

 
She’s honest, funny, and beautiful, but most important, she has a big heart, not just for me or her family, but her friends, co-workers, and any person who she thinks needs help.
 
Para dios, nos casamos la primera vez que estuvimos juntos. In the eyes of God, we have been married from the first time we met. To love her is easy, marrying her is going to be one of the happiest days of my life.”
 
Wow. See what I mean. Their writing is almost like poetry!
 
What Heather and Octavio say about each other, coupled with that phrase Octavio used, “To love her is easy,” reminded me of one of the most unique songs of my childhood, “Lovin’ You”. You owe it to yourself to go back and watch it on YouTube. When I did, I said to myself, this is exactly what Heather and Octavio’s love story is all about!
 
The song was written by another interfaith and intercultural couple, Minnie Riperton and Richard Rudolph, and produced by Rudolph and a young man named Stevie Wonder.
 
To millennials, like Heather and Octavio, Minnie and Richard’s claim to fame would be that they are the parents of the great comedienne, Maya Rudolph. In fact, baby Maya’s name is in the unedited version, because mom was trying to calm her.
 
“Lovin’ you is easy cause you're beautiful... Lovin’ you is more than just a dream come true. And everything I do, is out of loving you...
 
No one else can make me feel the colors that you bring. Stay with me while we grow old, and we will live each day in spring time.
 
Cause lovin’ you has made my life so beautiful. And every day of my life, is filled with lovin’ you...”
 
Heather and Octavio, may every day of your lives be, indeed, be a dream come true, filled with mutual love.