Sometimes you just get lucky at love!
We didn’t have one of those elaborate staged engagements. No photographer leaping out of the bushes. No string quartet on a bluff of the Pacific Ocean. No fanfare.
Simply a dish of coffee ice cream with marshmallow topping while we sat street side at Swenson’s Ice Cream Parlor in Sausalito, CA. It was a warm July afternoon. Tourists strolled by unaware of the momentous event about to take place. Max reached into his pocket and with a tentative grin handed me a small hinged black velvet box marked “Tiffany”. Just ice cream, a hinged black box, and four words. ”Will you marry me?”
It doesn’t take much to start a life time together. It takes a lot more to keep it together.
My wedding gift from my new husband was an inlaid rosewood jewelry box.
Many years later, living in Newport Beach, we were burglarized. The thief walked out with my jewelry box in which was my beautiful Tiffany engagement ring.
But there are worse things to lose in a marriage.
They got the diamond. I got to keep the man. Fair trade it seems to me.
How do you choose the right Valentine? How do you know in advance that this one is a “keeper.” At the moment, it just seems right. But looking back, I think we probably just take our chances and hope we’ll both stay on our best behavior. Which, of course, we don’t.
How do you sign on for a marriage and commit to staying the course for the long haul?
One day at a time. One choice at a time. One tender gesture at a time.
And it helps to know when to “zip it up” and keep your thoughts to yourself. Tame the tongue and you can tame your life.
So, here’s to all you Valentines out there.
Bring her flowers. Cook him his favorite meal. Light some candles. Make eye contact. Hold hands. And say again, “I Do.”
Oh, how very much “I DO!”
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