Today I choose…

To Love You

And every morning

Until the end of days

These words describe the essence of my son’s

recent wedding vows.

Aaron and Ashley’s love for each other

moves me to tears.

Their love feels rooted and aligned with something larger.

If benevolent ancestors could be seen showering them with their love, they were there.

If the rain clouds could change direction and blow away by prayer alone, consider it done.

It happened.

And under a brilliant blue, sunny sky, held in this wide embrace,

They opened their hearts to each other.

How did they learn that loving someone is a daily practice?

I’m inspired by their conscious choices.

As Aaron’s mom, preparing for their big day,

I questioned myself.

Did I give him enough?

Were his needs met as a child?

Most importantly, did I love him well enough

so that he can truly love another?

How did I do as his mother?

I felt like I was approaching a moment of reckoning.

And, from the depths of grief my children and I experienced in the wake of their father’s abrupt departure,

Will they be able to trust love again?

And yet, here are Aaron and Ashley,

unabashedly sharing their love for each other.

For me, as Aaron’s mom,

it was like watching the Phoenix rise from the ashes.

That day, my whole family rose from the ashes.

Love prevails.

“We do not learn to love in this sense.

We came as love.

We are love.

Some of us are still catching up

to who we truly are.”

Clarissa Pinkola-Estes