And I You, You and No Other…

Brent and I got married on September 14th, 2013. We eloped because getting my family to behave for any formal event is like asking llamas to herd cats using spaghetti noodles as lassos. Our ceremony was a hand binding ceremony on the bank of the Caloosahatchee River with just the officiant, my daughter, Brent, and I. This was not because we are pagan or even because we had strong feelings about my husband’s Celtic heritage - we are far too American for that. We chose hand binding because we loved the symbolism (and the movie Braveheart).

I fashioned the bindings myself using ribbon and bits and bobs that meant things to us. We wrote the hand binding ceremony for our officiant to read together. Our officiant recited the following:

In the joining of hands and the fashioning of a knot, so too are your lives now bound. These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love. These are the hands that you hold on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other from this day forward.

These are the hands that will work alongside yours as you build your life together, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams. These are the hands that will touch you with love and tenderness through the years, and the hands that will always be there to comfort you.

These are the hands that will hold you through grief, fear, and hardship. These are the hands that will wipe tears of joy and sorrow from your eyes. These are the hands that will hold your family together, and will give you strength when yours fails.

These are the hands, that when wrinkled and spotted with age, will still be reaching for yours. Two entwined in love, bound by commitment and faith, sadness and joy, by hardship and victory, anger and reconciliation.

Then, as I mentioned before, Brent and I conjured Braveheart. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said:
”I will love you my whole life, you and no other.”

My reply?

“And I you, you and no other forever.”

It was simple and it was beautiful and we keep a piece of the bindings in a shadowbox on our shelf. I loved that day. I can honestly say that even now, after ten years, I have enjoyed every day of our marriage. I am wrestling with a lot of emotions - that I’m sure will feature in future blogs - but right now, and for as long as we are together, I will love him with every ounce of my being.

I wanted to share this piece of our union because we kept it so private on the day - and I don’t think I’ve ever shared it with anyone else. Brent, like William Wallace, is a fierce protector of those he loves - and he loves me more than a fat kid loves cake. While I will never feel worthy of having him in my life or of being loved so completely, I will cherish it forever - even if our forever isn’t quite as long as either of us had hoped.