A LOVE THAT ENDURES

“And that is what we are here to celebrate today. A love that endures. Blessed are those that bend but never break. May your love continue to endure and may you always like each other.”

I had the pleasure of speaking at my brother’s vowel renewal this past weekend in Jamaica. It was probably one of the most beautiful moments in my life. I’ve been to plenty of weddings and I have watched love flourish amongst many friends but this moment was close to home. I’ll explain why.

“As I was wondering about what I would say today I was reminded that I had been preparing for this moment since Emanuel got sick all those years ago. I remember watching you stand at his side, not sure what was going to happen.”

I’ve always loved my brother. We didn’t grow up together and are far apart in age, but he made sure to stay in my life. Then he created a beautiful family of his own with his wife who I am too close too to ever consider her an in law. They’ve raised two beautiful boys that for some reason think the world of me even though they are quickly growing and know I’m not perfect. Some years back my brother got extremely sick somewhere in the middle of all that love and while I did everything for Kisha that I could, I watched her care for him and their sons. There was one night that the three of us kept her company until we fell asleep across her bed. She never slept. She just laid their watching time tick by and waiting.

“There’s a part in the wedding vows that says ‘in sickness and in health.’ It’s cute in the movies and on TV but our reality is a bit different.”

I’ve never seen anyone so gracefully and diligently live those words out. See, my brother recovered after some time. And then, years later, my sister fell ill. That’s a lot of “sickness and health” in one marriage. And would you believe that through all of that, they still look at one another the same. Kisha still reminds me of that young doctor I met when I was 12 years old who’s smile stretched a mile long when she saw him. And he is still that young man who lives by the code, “happy wife, happy life.” I’ve never seen a more amazing husband.

That blazing hot morning in Jamaica was so special to me because, my brother and sister live a quiet life. They take care of their sons, they work hard, and they laugh often. They let me in that life. They let me witness all of those moments. The cycles of love and the beauty of caring for one another. They are a shining example of what those beautiful tradition wedding vows mean.

To have and to hold

 From this day forward

 For better or for worse

For richer or for poorer

 In sickness and in health

Until death do us part.

“May you love each other in and out of time. 

Forever and Always.”