Marriage Hasn’t Gone by the Wayside

With the divorce rate as high as it is and the high number of unhappy married couples, it’s no wonder why many are cynical of marriage. After all it’s simply an archaic man-made institution, isn’t it? Caz and I have been married for just over three years and I can attest to the challenges and the fulfillment that comes with enjoying the journey. Yet, the skeptic may think, “three years…just wait until you hit five years then you’ll see how bad marriage really is.” I refused to believe that for many reasons. One is because tonight I witnessed a beautiful expression of love as my friend Dave threw his wife, Connie, a wonderful surprise 40^th birthday party.

Tonight was the epic surprise party of the decade, the party that raised the bar way too high for husbands everywhere (thanks a lot, Dave!). A few weeks ago we received a Tiffany themed invitation that invited us to an all-expense paid three course meal, live music, and dancing at an upscale restaurant in Whittier. We arrived at 5:00 p.m. to this restaurant that was only open for our group and I quickly realized that the other 60+ guest were so excited to surprise and celebrate Connie’s birthday as well. Midway through the night, before dinner Dave surprised Connie with a beautiful Tiffany’s ring (to go with the theme of the invitation). Their two children also surprised their mom with an expression of their love. One child read a witty poem she had written for her mom and the other sang a Taylor Swift song. The tears were flowing for many. At the end, Dave commented on how much he loved Connie and that they had just celebrated sixteen years of marriage. Connie responded in shock and was extremely honoring of her husband and his ability to make things like this happen.

Caz and I were honored to be invited and impressed by Dave’s forethought and love for his bride. On the way home I couldn’t help but think that marriage isn’t outdated but still thrives—that was evident in the love of Dave and Connie and their love the children had for their mom and dad. Dave, thank you for inviting us tonight and expressing your love to Connie for us all to witness. It was so refreshing to be reminded that marriage can still be fulfilling and a great thing!

25 Comments on “Marriage Hasn’t Gone by the Wayside”

sheridegrom - From the literary and legislative trenches.

07.23.2013 at 2:01 pm

This was indeed a lovely party and a lavish showing of love by Dave toward his wife Connie. I also believe it’s important that the children were included. Obviously one or both couples in the family earns an excellent salary or they’ve had a wind-fall to afford these luxuries. I believe it’s important for all couples to understand that a candle placed in a cupcake or something else equally simple will show the same affection. When unconditional love is present in a marriage 365 days of the year, birthdays are just another day to throw a party.

stolenidentity2

07.25.2013 at 5:23 pm

Now a days getting divorced is just as easy as getting married. Young, rich people are trying to paint the picture of marriage as something fun and easy and then when it gets hard you give up and move on. Those people are what I call wrong and lazy.
When you find someone that you get to know- truly know- someone that you love, that brings out the best and the worst in you, that challenges you, that makes you feel and see what you are capable of, someone that is always there for you and makes you believe, someone you could see as sharing your life with and be the parent of your children; that’s real love. That’s the one you marry.
Opposed to what people are led to believe, when it gets hard, you work and fight HARDER, you go to the absolute extremes to make it work and then some!
Marriage/relationship is something you need to work on every single day, something you don’t get “paid for”, but its the most amazing job there could be!

I truly enjoyed reading your post and I cannot wait to read more :)… Happy birthday to Connie! It’s great to see two people who love each other so much and wish to make one persons birthday that much more special! 🙂 He has certainely raised the bar quite high, perhaps I’ll make my partner read this post ;)… Just kidding!

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Bryan
07.25.2013 at 5:29 pm

Thanks for your comment! I am understand now more than ever that old phrase, “I love my wife more than ever!” Working through the rough parts makes things beautiful.
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  stolenidentity2
  07.25.2013 at 5:43 pm
  
  I’m glad there are still smart people like you around! 🙂
  Sometimes I wish we were still in the “old days”.. where getting a divorce after one little fight wasn’t even an option..
  I absolutely agree with you as well, it’s like when you have a job and finally get to buy that expensive watch with your hard earned money.. You’ll enjoy it alot more than way than you would have if it was just given to you! Same thing with marriage.. some days/months/years may come very easily to the both of you then you’re faced with a “rough patch” but once you make it through that it’s like falling in love with the person all over again :).