Boldly Seek Out Life’s Adventures

On Sunday, May 26, 2024, I officiated Alexis and Rob’s wedding ceremony at the Dallas Arboretum (Jonsson Color Garden) in Dallas, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

I ask every person I marry to write an autobiographical essay, discussing their life and spiritual history, how they met, why they want to get married, and why now. Note, I do not ask for their honeymoon plans. Alexis, however, volunteered this: “In the ceremony, maybe we leave out the part about how my ideal honeymoon is a week-long guided hallucinogenic trip in Central America. Or not. Your call.”

Understandably, this surprised me. But the more I learn about Alexis and Rob, the more I appreciate and understand their mutual desire to explore the vastness of the world, take risks together in order to grow, and support one another along the way, and in their own way. In their ketubah, a Jewish written form of vows they signed before the ceremony, Alexis and Rob vow, “Together, we will boldly seek out life’s adventures and actively pursue the richness and fullness of a life well lived.” It is this sense of wanderlust and drive for an enriched life which brought them together over 10 years ago. 

Long before they met, Alexis and Rob each joined the Peace Corps, a government agency established by President John F. Kennedy, which sends volunteers abroad to promote peace through global service. Rob served two years in rural Morocco. Alexis, inspired to join the Peace Corps by her uncle, Jim Bass, who served in Peru in the early 1960s, served three years in Botswana.

Back stateside, subsequent to their terms of service, they each sought community with fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), and each, in turn, joined the same RPCV group, Rob a few years prior to Alexis. In this group they sought camaraderie with like-minded individuals devoted to community service, and it was at one of the group’s gatherings that they met.

Since then, they have built a life together filled with adventures and challenges: national and international travels, backpacking through Yosemite, urban exploration, scuba diving anywhere they can, renovating a house (since 2018!), and building community here in Dallas. 

Rob throws himself into building and driving racecars, and funds this hobby with his motorsports photography company. Alexis volunteers heavily on committees in both Peace Corps and commercial real estate related nonprofit organizations. Truly, they have a hard time sitting still. Each encourages the other to take on new interests and strive to reach their fullest potential.

As with any relationship, not every day can be sunshine and sea turtles. After 10 years, Alexis and Rob joke that they have done more relationship work before marriage than many do years into their marriage – but this work has undoubtedly paid off. They have learned to listen and communicate, and now value their differences as much as their similarities. They believe, that, to again quote their ketubah, “By appreciating one another’s perspectives, we will gain a wider view of the world around us.”

Alexis and Rob, thank you for exemplifying this important idea in your lives. May others learn from you and follow in your path, and may you continue to carry your passion for understanding the beauty of the world, the gratitude for your community, and your fierce love for one another into your marriage. As you’ve worked hard to create a house together, may you now create a home, one set upon the foundation of marriage.