Kathy and I exchanged vows 38 years ago today. Yesterday, as we drove to Fargo ND, we talked a little about the journey. There are no guarantees in life, but, when you end up with the right person–your soul mate–it seems there is destiny involved. I vividly remember as Kathy and her Dad began walking up the aisle, I stood, and realized I was shaking from head to foot. When Bill gave Kathy’s hand to me, the shaking stopped and it felt right, as it has for all those years.
The priest who performed the ceremony told us we could choose the readings. I asked for the Prayer of St. Francis. At first, he said we could not, but later changed his mind. We have a plaque with it hanging in our bedroom. I printed a copy in Spokane and put it on the wall in my room. It has remained a constant reminder in my life that I make a difference as Kathy has in my life.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.