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“Mine?”“Forever.”“Only forever.”“Forever … and ever.” – Exchange between lovers from the graphic novel, The Crow, by James O’Barr
(This story is dedicated to my parents, Joyce and Patrick Baptiste, and to a certain young Blue Range couple to whom I made a promise.)
YES, I AM IN LOVE with love.
But, deeper than that, I am in love with love that lasts.
It may seem odd, at this
approaching Christmas time, for me to be writing about marriages. I think it
quite appropriate. See, I feel I am destined to spend all my Christmas Days as
I opted to spend the past four – alone. As such, I truly appreciate the wonder
and glory of the fact that there are still happily married couples of all ilk,
who are either making new, or continuing with old, yuletide traditions
together.
Magic moving lifemates
To my mind and heart, there is
an extra special magic between people who have chosen to be lifemates expressly
because they love each other. Come Christmas time, that enchantment is all the
more emphatic and pronounced. It bubbles up out of loving hearts that are – or
will become – the beat and pulse of parenthood.
Without parents there could be
no children. And children will ever be the indubitable spirit of Christmas
cheer.
In this “shades of grey” time
during which we live, the nuclear family is no longer the accepted norm. Many
non-traditional families give living proof that happiness can come in
innumerable shapes and sizes. So please, dear reader, understand that I am not
trying to take anything away from joyous, satisfactory non-traditional families.
Ode to a vow
However, my story today is an
ode, if I may, to loving, wedded couples who are making, or have made, a life
in unison for themselves and their children. What a wonderful cycle! That of
family, humanity and life. And how often it all begins with love between a
woman and a man, who take a vow to be together forever … and ever.
Call me a sentimentalist, a
romantic, a sap; but the happiest Christmas Days I ever had in my life came out
of a marriage: the one between my parents.
I’ve loved all how in my 30
years of living – determined, earnest, real love. Of having been loved in my lifetime … well, I am
only certain of having been loved by two people: my parents. Thus, they will
always be “my true loves,” and this is what they gave to me …
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My mother, Joyce, and father, Patrick, braved bigotry to create a family out of their love.
Here with my older brothers and sisters. I’m in the picture, too … in my Mommy’s tummy. |
(Please connect to my next post for Part Two of “My True Loves Gave to Me”)
For more Trinbago Christmas Cheer-fare, hit the link: Trinbago Shine On
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