Renewed Love times 1,200: How Wedded Bliss Brought nearly 600 Couples Together

June 7, 2010

photo courtesy of washingtonpost.com

I used to not watch the news because it always seemed to be filled with bad people doing bad things.  Hence why I decided to major in journalism, in order to change the world of news from the inside out.  

It wasn’t until a journalism professor from college  explained to us that the media reports on the unusual or out of the ordinary events that I began to see the world’s glass half full again… You see, the reason there is so much bad on the news is because it’s the “unusual” part of our lives.

So many people – each and every, single day – are doing great things; so, it’s more likely for the news to report on something less shiny because they happen less often.  Thus, my love the world grew even more. 

I’m a firm believer that there’s a lot of good in this world.  There’s a lot of good people doing great things.  We’re blessed to have so many wonderful things happening all around us, all the time; so much – in fact – that the wonderful in the world becomes less significant, less newsworthy.  

But every once in awhile, the good becomes so great that even the media turns its head, tips its hat and acknowledges it as extraordinary.

One such event took place yesterday in our nation’s capital, when nearly 600 couples gathered under the roof of America’s largest Catholic hurch in order to renew their vows and state their claim of love once again.

 According to the Washington Post, nearly 1200 men and women all stood up together, held hands and said “I do” all over again to their spouse of 25, 30 and even 60+ years.   While their reasons for lasting so long all varied from couple to couple, there was one thing they all insisted to have in common… their love.

The presiding officiant, Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, reflected this thought beautifully when he stated,

Because of the power of love, it is possible for a couple to move from ‘me’ to ‘we.’  Love never fails.  We may.  But love never fails.  (Wuerl, washingtonpost.com)

Not only do I see the beauty in couples who withstand the test of time, but I see the beauty in these words.  Love is a beautiful thing, make no mistake about it.  But that doesn’t mean that people in love won’t be faced with hard times and bad days. 

Often times, the couples stated the power and strength of their love held up not in spite of but because of the harder, less “shiny” times in their lives.   Chris Warner, married to his wife, Judy, for forty years said, “This is a commitment you make for life.  And therefore, you work through any issues that you have.”  To which Judy responded with, “I don’t think there’s any magic potion.  You just have to go to bed every night thinking tomorrow’s a new day.”

And with all “new” things in our lives, there’s potential for greater opportunity.  I think all couples – young, old or otherwise – could benefit from realizing it’s all about attitude… waking up every morning and choosing to smile instead of frown, choosing to love instead of hate, choosing to stay instead of leave and choosing each other, over and over again instead of anything else.

Congrats to all the couples who celebrated in this wonderful event and cheers to many (more) years of happiness!

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