'Till death do us part.

Earlier this week I read a blog post about the seriousness of those sacred vows and what it really means, and by the end, I was just an absolute pile of snot and tears.

I used to dream of this beautiful, unconditional love I would one day have when I got married and though I dreamed of it, I never had any real idea how wonderful it would be. It's a million times more amazing than I ever imagined. And having found that love, you never, ever want to spend another day without it.

Yesterday I spent the night talking on Skype with a friend who was in tears because she was lonely and longed for that kind of love. She lamented that her married friends have forgotten how hard it is to be single and it's true--I've forgotten because even when I just think about what it would be like to lose Jeremy--to lose my puzzle piece--the emptiness of that thought is enough to make my heart skip a beat.

I am over my head in an ocean of love. The kind of transforming love that makes you grow gills and turns you into a completely different creature. It's a whole new world, this kind of love. Twenty-thousand leagues under the sea, under the blankets, under the stars, under all the layers, I am a changed person because someone loves me. I can't imagine living in the single world again because it's not the kind of place people like me--transformed people--can live anymore.

There came a point while we were traveling that I had to make plans to go to Australia from Singapore while Jeremy went to Iran, and we thought we could do it. We'd be apart for maybe three months and then we'd be together again. But it only took a week and a half to realize a month was too long and we made plans for me to stick it out in Malaysia and wait for him. He would come. I would find him. And we would breathe again.

During that time that we were apart, a lot of thinking was done as well as a lot of crying and pining and love-letter writing. And one poem Jeremy wrote for me stood out from all the rest and since that day, I've always carried a copy of it in my wallet. He wrote:

Keeping you close to me,
Our time apart is too long,
Run on hours and bring her
To my loving arms!
New memories burst into life,
Each lovingly treasured;
Young and old, we shall be together.

Young and old, we shall be together. To hear those words in my moment of isolation... I've never wanted to be apart again. And we haven't.

'Till death do us part. It's a vow I've already made in my heart. Though it hasn't been uttered on an alter or made before an audience, the change is already complete. I am a new creature; I've already been transformed. No, I don't remember what it's like to be single anymore because my life now is radically different. I couldn't thrive there, I couldn't survive there. My heart has been united for some time now to the one person I've vowed to never leave... This kind of love is life sustaining. Yes, it's a sappy, over the top, kinda makes you want to puke a bit sort of love. But it's our love and it's precious, and nothing can tear it apart but death. This kind of love is forever.

By the time I return to read your comments tomorrow, my beautiful, old college friend Bethany will have married a wonderful man named Eric, and they shall be together too, 'till death do they part. Forever and ever, they will be tied together, transformed, changed, happily sinking further and further into an ocean of love. And every morning, waking up next to each other, it will be bliss. And every night, falling asleep holding hands, will be bliss too.

Marriage is a powerful thing.

Congratulations, Beth; the most beautiful and fulfilling earthly love you've ever known is ahead of you. I wish you and Eric both everything--flowers, poems, hand holding, babies, kisses, cuddles and joy. You will surely have it all and more. :)