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Wedding Toast: A Mama’s Blessing


In Celebration of John and Bianca Hulsey’s Wedding
September 13, 2014
Most of us say we believe in happy ever afters, but happy ever afters exist only in fairy tales and fairy tales are fiction. I prefer to believe in true love.
True love is more than just attraction and intimacy.  It is affection and tenderness and kindness. It is holding hands and sharing smiles.
True love is unselfish.  It is consideration and caring for the other person more than about yourself.  True love puts the other person’s needs first.
True love in not a fifty/fifty proposition; it is both parties giving and doing 100% for the other.
It is laughter and conversation because true love cannot exist for long without truly liking each other as well.  
It is respect and trust, and it allows for vulnerability. It is confidence and assurance that the other person would never hurt you.  In fact, true love goes to great measure to guard each other from any harm.
It is about loving one another when we are not at our best: when no one would come near us because we have the flu and are covered in contagious germs, when we wake up with bed head and morning breath, and when we shouldn’t have had milk because it does terrible things to our stomachs.
True love lets you go to bed angry (contrary to what relationship experts say) because the other person will not pack their bags and leave you in the middle of the night, instead they will be there in the morning, making it easy for apologies to be exchanged, making your favorite pancakes for breakfast.  
True love is unselfish. You can both spend your daytimes at work, with other friends or pursuing other endeavors (after all, that’s what makes for interesting, well-rounded, independent people), but at the end of the day you find your way home to the other half of your soul.  You find your way home.  
I know all these things because I see these attributes in John and Bianca. They have found true love in each other, and because of this we are here to celebrate their marriage.  We can be assured they will be blessed with a true happy ever after.

I love you, kids.

John’s Mama 
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