One of the most amazing experiences in a person’s life is to open your life up to someone else, to make room in your world for another person. Or, as most often happens, abandoning your world to build a new one with another person. It’s not always easy, sometimes painful, but your world becomes much larger for it.
When I think of all the things in my life that might never have happened had I not married my wife I quickly realize the list is by no means small. Many of the items were entirely unexpected. For example, while I expected that in marrying a Finn I would get to know Finland better, I never expected that marrying a Finn would also lead me to a greater appreciation of baseball. Or cats. Or John Wayne or Elvis.
I never anticipated the pleasure I would derive from simply sitting on the couch reading and listening to my wife play piano. I never imagined that food could have “history”, or that I would ever come to like peppers or raisins. I never expected I could come to judge most mass-produced desserts as “too darn sweet”, or that I would ever have an opinion on soy milk brands.
But perhaps the most amazing thing that happens is that they are abandoning their world to be with you. The implied love and trust are not to be taken lightly. They have chosen you. That should be taken as the ultimate compliment.
My wife was willing to move to another continent, to a place where she knew no one, to start a new life with me. That, if nothing else, should make me feel good about myself. My wife is a fantastic catch. She is kind, talented, organized, and beautiful inside and out. She improves everything she touches, including me. She’s got class, grace, and elegance, and she doesn’t just “settle” on anything.
And she chose to be with me.
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