Countdown

Countdown to marriage.
The wedding is two weeks from today. Yep, that's right. Everyone is saying cryptic things such as:
"Are you sure?"
"This is your last chance to back out."
"Are you getting cold feet?"
"Are you both going to show up on July 17?"

I find these comments kind of a downer. But, what am I hoping to hear? Something like "Are you so stoked?"

Brigid had a talk with me the last time we hung out. She has grown up with a single parent and has acutely felt the lack of a father figure. We were sitting at chic-fil-a and I was just pulling my waffle fry through a mountain of ketchup when she looked me in the eye and asked, "Are you sure?"
A: "Yeah, I'm sure."
B: "Because you've waited a long time for this and it needs to be right."
A: "Okay."
B: "And if I'm gonna stand up there with you as your bridesmaid, you better be sure."
A: "I am."
B: "Okay."
Let me tell you, it was an intense, albeit short, conversation. She nailed me with mature understanding as to the nature and meaning of marriage. She should be the prerequisite for marriage counseling. You must see Brigid before even bothering with marriage counseling. Look at the devastation of divorce on this 13 year-old teenage girl and tell me if you know what you're doing.
I've been told you have no idea what you're doing when you enter into marriage. And that's probably true to some extent. Because forever is a long time and life happens. But, I'm making a promise. I have the following quote hanging in my office. I work with many couples in the roughest, darkest, scariest times in the marriage and sometimes all they are clinging to is the promise.

Thornton Wilder, The Skin of Our Teeth
I didn't marry you because you were perfect. I didn't even marry you because I loved you. I married you because you gave me a promise. That promise made up for your faults. And the promise I gave you made up for mine. Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage. And when our children were growing up, it wasn't a house that protected them; and it wasn't our love that protected them - it was that promise.