I can hardly believe a year has passed so quickly!As Mr E Man said on Friday night, as we had dinner on a patio next to the wedding venue, "it's been a wonderful year, and may there be five or six more".
The reading before our vows was adapted from "On Marriage", taken from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. I came across a copy of this book in the house of Mr E Man's BFF (and best man), a few months before our wedding. Upon reading the Marriage chapter, I immediately announced that I had found the perfect passage to kick off the ceremony. Turns out that BFF had been given the book a few months before his own wedding, at which Mr E Man was the best man, and had used the same passage in the ceremony!
We removed the passage alluding to God - and not for the reasons you might think! In BC you can either be married in a civil or a religious ceremony. If you choose the former, as we did, the marriage commissioner is not allowed to include any religious words in the ceremony at all.
Here's what we used:
You were born together,
and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together
when the white wings of death scatter your days.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together.
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress
grow not in each other's shadow.
Happy anniversary, babe. You're not too shabby, really. The kitty cats and I had a meeting after you left this morning, and we've decided to keep you.
This was beautiful, Cath. I read that passage from Gibran a long, long time ago. Too long. Thank you for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary to you and Mr. E!
"it's been a wonderful year, and may there be five or six more".
ReplyDeleteYou lucky gal... found yourself an optimist... :-)
Happy anniversary!!
ReplyDeleteHeh, aren't laws funny? When I was in high school we sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" at graduation. But according to a Supreme Court ruling, there can't be any utterance of "God" at a graduation. So while we were fine to God it all up at a choir concert, at graduation, we had to remove all references to God and Jesus and instead substitute the word "he." I kinda thought maybe we could have picked another song to sing, but I guess "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is traditional.
That's a lovely passage. Happy anniversary!
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! What a beautiful passage.
ReplyDeleteThanks all for the anniversary wishes! And the comments on the reading. I couldn't believe it when I found this passage in a random book that I just happened to pick up. It just summed up our relationship perfectly.
ReplyDeleteOkham, you have no idea... see also here.
Ruchi, I didn't have any major problems with this particular rule as you can imagine! And to a non-American it is just plain weird to sing a "battle hymn" at graduation all...
Hey, bro has just sent me this marriage joke: so, three friends meet at a bar. Friend A goes "You know, I think my wife is cheating on me... and I think I know exactly with whom... must be the electrician... you see, I found some electric tape under the bed...".
ReplyDeleteFriend B : "I hear you man. I think I have the same problem, except in my case it must be the plumber, because I found a plunger under the bed".
Friend C: "Excuse me, are you guys stupid ? What kind of nonsense is that ? You just assume that your wives are cheating on you because of some crap that you find under the bed ?
I mean, at that rate, look, last night I found a fireman under the bed. What should I infer from that ? That my wife is cheating on me with a hydrant ?"
Happy Anniversary! Sounds like you did pretty good for a Monday :)
ReplyDeleteOkham, I will have to get my Dad to remind me of the punchline from the joke about a Newcastle supporter finding his wife in bed with Alan Shearer. Watch this space...
ReplyDeleteScienceGirl, it remains to be seen whether Mr E Man will fall asleep in his dinner after his 5 am start at work this morning...
Congratulations!!! Anyone who gets you an iPhone is a keeper :)
ReplyDeleteIndeed - hooray for iMen! (Like X-Men, just geekier).
ReplyDeletea little late, but happy anniversary!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I can survive the last iPhone attack... all of my friends are caving... I am now the last bastion in the war against Rogers
ReplyDeleteThanks HG!
ReplyDeleteOkham, just get one already.
Hey, I told Mr E Man about this guy who was leaving jokes about wives cheating on their husbands on our anniversary thread. When I said the O word*, that sealed the deal. He says he's going to come over there and kick your ass. So look out for a big burly angry Canucks fan!
*Oilers. Even though he once told an Edmonton fan, at a Canucks - Oilers game, "You guys are my second-least-hated other Canadian team". He hates Montreal the most, followed by Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and then Ottawa. Although he'll support any one of them against any American team. Please don't ask me to explain this phenomenon. And, he's not really going to kick your ass. He doesn't want to have to go to Edmonton, for a start.
I told Mr E Man about this guy who was leaving jokes about wives cheating on their husbands on our anniversary thread. When I said the O word*, that sealed the deal. He says he's going to come over there and kick your ass.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... but the question is, did he find the joke funny or not ? You are not saying...
OK, so, husband comes home and hollers to his wife: "Mary, Mary, you won't believe it... I bought a lottery ticket and... I WON ! 50 million $ !
Go, start packing..."
Mary: "OMG, John, it's fantastic ! And, what shall I pack, Winter or Summer clothes ?"
John: "Hey, I don't care, pack whatever you want, just get the hell outta here !"
Noooooo make it stop!
ReplyDeleteAwe, c'mon, this is a good joke...
ReplyDeleteDoes your wife agree? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI hate to inform you of this, but your brother's jokes are Not Very Good. They are not even as good as my Dad's, which are usually either a) about golf or b) incomprehensible.
An example of the former (the telling of it was much, much funnier than the actual joke):
"OK so these two women are having lunch and some wine and talking about girly things. And one of them says to the other one, oh I've just realised that this joke has a very, very bad word in it. I can't tell the joke without the word, but it's not the kind of word I want to say to my daughter" (I was about 20 at this point). "But I want to tell you the joke. OK, when I get to the very, very bad word, I'll just say C, and you'll know what I mean. Actually I hope you won't. But you probably will. Oh well. So one woman says to the other woman, 'do you do anything special with your C' (leans over and whispers "do you know what I mean by that?". I nod, trying not to go too red or laugh too much). "OK, so she says 'do you do anything special with your C before sex?' and the other woman says, 'yes, I drop him off at the golf course'".
An example of the incomprehensible joke:
"What's the difference between a duck?"
"One leg is both the same".
See what I mean?
I hate to inform you of this, but your brother's jokes are Not Very Good
ReplyDeleteWell, listen, so far the only good material I have gotten from you is actually intellectual property of Mr. Ennis. My brother's jokes are at least as good as your "80p" one...
Now, to your dad's work: the first is quite funny, the second, well, I'd have to agree it's incomprehensible. Still, one in two ain't bad...
awwww yay! happy anniversary! i am so so happy for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Crystal!
ReplyDeleteOkham, we need a joke-off... simultaneous joke posts with voting for the best ones. Something like that.
Okham, we need a joke-off
ReplyDeleteWow... I kind of feel guilty, this thread initially started out on a high note, inspired by your uplifting post, and look what I made of it now...
That's OK, I don't think anyone else is reading any more
ReplyDelete