All because two people fell in love...

We've seen the little home decor frames with the lines all because two people fell in love. And as I watched the love that flowed so strongly among my family last weekend at my sister's wedding, I asked myself because of which two people falling in love in the past made this all of our futures. Did it start with my Grandma and Grandpa Morgante and their fifty four years of marriage and four kids? With my Grandma and Grandpa Williams and their almost fifty years of marriage and six kids between them? Did it start with my parents who met on a blind date, saw each other a whole eight times over the span of a year and half because my dad was in the Marine Corp,  and then married. He  took my mom halfway across the country on a lifelong journey  that no one thought  would make it the first five years, much more the thirty two they're going to celebrate next month. I grew up believing in the love of a lifetime, the committment and strength of family, and that love is  everything. It is our strength, it is our weakness, it makes us laugh, it makes us cry, it gives us hope, it's there no matter what the world and life throws at us. And when you've found it, whether it's your sibling, parent, child,  spouse, or anyone else you hold it tight and never let go. I believe that love is the best way to honor the gift of life that God has given us. It is a gift that should be honored everyday.

And as I look at my parents and my grandparents, I am thankful everyday for such amazing people to have been placed in my life to show me the way. We lost one of my grandpas last summer and my other one has struggled for awhile now, and I always think how I hope I can look back on my life when I'm their age and feel that I did it. Just as they have. None of them are rolling in wealth which is sometimes what some thinks it means to "make it", and I know they had their moments of struggling with money and life just like the rest of us, but they kept their faith and they kept their love. They kept right on going no matter what life threw at them. And life threw some pretty nasty curves at times, but through it all they held strong. Life is hard, working for a living is hard, marriage is hard, raising kids is hard, but they all (my Grandma and Grandpa Williams, Grandma and Grandpa Morgante, and Mom and Dad) never gave up on each other and together showed not only me but I believe anyone that knows them that the love between two people can accomplish anything and that marriage can last.

My parents have been the constant guiding light in love and life. They really have been inspiration to all of us, and as I looked at my parents' growing family of 12 now, they might not think so but to be them at some point is really a dream so many of us hope to reach. And now that the three of us are married, I like to think my sisters and I got enough of their good strong genes and I know we married good men, that we all hopefully have the potential to follow in  their large footsteps. I know it s a long, tough road, but I'm sure every step down it is worth it.