bowl-o-blau

To Geoff and Marissa

There’s something that people always say about romance novels: from the beginning, you always know who ends up with who — so why bother reading? We even joked about it in a Jane Austen Seminar class because, let’s face it, its the premise of just about every one of her novels. But there’s a reason why we’re so enthralled by these romances, why we keep reading on, why we’re so captivated by the story all the way to the happily ever after and beyond: we love to read about the love, the drama, the hardships, the sacrifices, and the incredible journey that the protagonists experience.

And that’s what its been like. For 11 years, the friends and family of these two have been fortunate enough to witness their relationship evolve from high school sweethearts to husband and wife. From the beginning, it always seemed like they were meant for each other; that somewhere down the road, they’d probably get married, and we’d all high-five and hug each other at the end of the day.

But that doesn’t mean it was always easy. Of course there’d be trials, drama, and the occasional crisis-mode — but that’s what made it so interesting. Real. The romance of their lives wasn’t simply a structure of rose-colored, stained glass windows with pictures from Disney movies, it was built from a foundation of hard work and sincerity that became the paragon of relationships that we all admire.

(Well, okay… maybe there’d be a couple of stained glass windows from The Little Mermaid or something)

It was the relationship that everyone rooted for, that everyone had hoped would one day reach the pinnacle. We’re all just glad that we played the part we were supposed to play…

… however meager or significant it may have been. 

Its been a long journey; a world-spanning adventure that went from Australia to Japan. And finally, here it is:

This is the happily ever after.