For generations most people have stood before friends and family as a couple made promises to each other we call marriage vows. The most familiar being: I, (Name) take you, (Name), to be my wedded (husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death us do part.
So, two people attracted to one another sharing core values and a vision for the life they hope to have decide to walk a shared path. With the love, excitement and wonder associated with the wedding day, the ability of each to understand and commit to the other, holding to the promises made and implied in the wedding vows, is imperative.
I can only speak for myself and the amazing journey I shared with my wife for 58 years. Two days before we both recited the above vows to each other, her mother pulled me aside and said, “take care of my girl.” At that moment I made a promise to myself that as long as I had strength to draw a breath I would care for that woman. On our wedding day we were both 19. It began a journey that was more exciting, scary, happy and challenging than any ride Disney could imagine. Starting in a three-room Texas apartment living on Army pay, then a year of separation due to a tour in Vietnam, we experienced the “poor.” Next, starting careers, raising two amazing daughters, two moves across country, meeting most of our life goals then facing serious health issues, we covered just about all the bases in the wedding vows. And yes, as of writing this my wife went to be with the Lord eight months and 21 days ago. The final words in the wedding vows.
This Dec. 23 it will be 59 years since two 19-year-old kids stood in front of a judge in the Aida County courthouse in Boise, Idaho, after a 780-mile drive, and made those simple but powerful promises. I have been blessed with sharing every experience with an amazing friend, lover and wife for a lifetime. She was the perfect wife for me. Was I a good husband? Only she could answer that. If I were to guess, she would say, “Yes, but could have done better in some areas.” She always wanted me to be better and I love her for it. We always looked at our marriage as a Christmas gift from God. Having lived it, I can’t think of any gift that could compare.
Thomas L. Cadman
Canyon Country
