The Only Exception

After my brother’s wedding this weekend, I’m inclined to set aside the cynicism and bitter quips for one night and wax romantic. So often weddings are sprinkled with skeptical musings and fatal predictions of cynical naysayers, but this wasn’t the case at this particular wedding. Not a single person could help but express with unfaltering confidence that they truly believed this couple had found something lasting and sincere in each other. If and when I find my spouse I can only hope to have a relationship like theirs.

Looking at them and how much they care for each other softens my somewhat sardonic perspective on relationships. In a world where so many individuals miss the mark on relationships—going into them with ulterior motives and unrealistic, selfish expectations—this one exemplifies the idea of what it means to be purely in love with someone.

I don’t pretend to know the details of what happens inside their relationship or how they feel about each other even on their worst days, but it they seem to have found that unusual level of love, one where they adore everything about each other including their pitfalls not despite them. They aren’t identical in their personalities and interests, but they complement each other, maintaining their individual identities while forming an enduring bond.

For all his great qualities, my brother is not necessarily a charmer, he admittedly is a dork and his new wife appears to be smitten with every aspect of his goofy personality. She delights in his peculiar taste in movies and is happily spending their honeymoon hiking through Canada. His adoration for her is no small thing either. He told my grandma that he “just has so much fun with her, no matter what we’re doing, she’s just so fun.” It’s not a grand statement, but it speaks volumes about the strength of their relationship. After all, if you intend on spending your entire life with one individual, you ought to have fun doing it.

Theirs is not the all-consuming, sensational love that epic love stories are made of, but a simple and completely genuine love that is the basis of a solid, lasting marriage.