More Today Than Yesterday

On April 16th, 1978 I nervously stood in front of the altar at Stinchcomb Methodist Church. When the doors swung open a beautiful girl stepped through and walk down the aisle to take my hand. The preacher asked us to promise to love each other until death did us part. We both said we would and he pronounced us man and wife.

On that spring day forty-five years ago we thought we knew what love was. But like all newly married couples, we didn’t have a clue. The truth is, I don’t think you can know what love is until you have experienced life. You can forget about all the fairytale ideals of love. Happily ever after requires a lot of struggles.

In the last forty-five years, Deborah and I have had blessed life. There have been times when we scraped the bottom of the barrel but the barrel was never empty. Together we have cried tears of grief at the death of loved ones. We have held each other and cried tears of joy at the birth of children and grandchildren. We have fought over things that mattered little, but we always made up because we knew what mattered a lot. She can never leave me because we go everywhere together. I am proud to say that we’re still having fun and she is still the one I want to talk to in bed.

Forty-five years have gone by since that preacher told me that I could kiss the bride. Throughout those years we have seen better and we’ve seen worse. Our bank account has been richer but it has also been poorer. We have prayed together during sickness and we praise God in our health. Deborah, it is your love that colors my world. I love you more today than yesterday but I love you less today, less than I will tomorrow.