The following poem was inspired in Bermuda seven years ago when Elizabeth and I celebrated our 30th anniversary. We were very fortunate to attend a small and intimate gathering on Wednesday on the Outer Banks with good friends who reconfirmed their own vows after 30 years. Marriage takes work, patience, grace and commitment. And as people toasted the couple at dinner, which followed the ceremony, it was clear that our friends brought those attributes to their own marriage. Their daughter said a very insightful thing - and I paraphrase. "It is not what you tell your children that sticks with them. It is what you do that sticks with them." Actions do speak louder than words!
A Shared Commitment (Bermuda) 8.10.15
Sitting on the shore next to black volcanic rock
I embrace the steady breeze and the scent of the ocean
Crystal clear water splashes onto soft pink sand
Which feels like sugar as it runs through my fingers
Further from shore the water turns turquoise
Until reefs turn the water a deep dark blue
This is paradise for building drip sandcastles
With pink sand running through my fingers
It is also the perfect spot to celebrate 30 years
Of loving, honoring, and cherishing my wife
An islander asked for our secret
To thirty years of marriage
As in almost all successful endeavors
An important ingredient is shared commitment
Because we are all imperfect beings
Our relationships will occasionally falter, and with it
The opportunity to create an even stronger bond
If a shared commitment is truly present
One Comment
Rob R.
John-boy – you have such an interesting and varied life which I aspire to. At the moment my 5-year is like your fiscal quarter ….I’m trying to bring that down to about 2-3 year range….wish me luck. haha. Thanks for your streamof postivie emotion and goodintention ….it like a little oasis in my in-box.