HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WISHES

                                            What I said almost a year ago still holds true today...

A TOAST FROM A PARENTAL PERSPECTIVE:  When a child is born and they hand you that little bundle, the first time you look into their tiny, trusting face it's only natural to want to give them everything, to promise them the world... and so you whisper into their ear: "The Best is Yet to Come"...Yet, with the passage of time, you realize just how much wisdom needs to be passed on such that they best achieve their goals and evolving dreams in the lengthy journey toward adulthood.

Ryan and Alison, your very presence here tonight signifies your successful segue into responsible adulthood but it's truly more than that: it represents a facet of the so-called CIRCLE OF LIFE... To me, circles are the perfect symbol of 'completeness'...like a ring, there are no broken lines in their form... and "completeness" is a good thing, particularly in a relationship...

In the late 1890s, a well-known poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wrote a famous poem that focused on 'completeness'.  In fact,  back in the 70s I had a poster above my bed bearing her salient words:

I love you not only for what you are

But for what I AM when I am with you...

I love you not only for what you have made of yourself,

But for what you are making of me...

And... I love you for the part of ME

that you bring out...[for you complete me]...

 

Browning's sentiments clearly emphasize the significance of completeness in a relationship, but they likewise invoke 'a generosity of spirit', and this brings me to some cherished wishes I'd like to share with Ryan and Alison:

 May you always need one another...

(Not so much to fill your own emptiness, but to appreciate what true fulfillment really is...)

May you always 'lean on' one another, as well,

(Yet, never out of weakness, but of selfless reciprocity)...

May you embrace one another,

( but not in a manner that encloses, stifles, or suffocates)

Most importantly, may your happiness be strongly amplified by charity,

AS WELL AS ALWAYS (by) making ONE ANOTHER happy !!!

In closing...

The little boy (who once played) is now a bride groom,

The little girl (her parent's once carried) is now a lovely bride;

As witnesses to their wedded vows just recited,

We, [friends/family] stood by their side...

So, Bless the sacred rings around their fingers,

Bless their marriage as man and wife,

Share in their new-journey this evening,

[And 3 CHEERS for The Circle of Life...]

Ryan and Alison : "May The Best Be Yet To Come !!! "