When I watch Karen and Steven, I am filled with gratitude to witness such love and compassion in a couple. I am inspired by them. While Joe and I, in our tangled co-dependence, must find our separate paths to Santiago, these two walk the Road together. They are walking in celebration of 30 years marriage, three children, and a journey that connects continents. I seen in them such respect for each other, such trust. None of us really knows the story of another on this road, but the one I have made up for Karen and Steve is one of a love destined, a love well-lived.
30th Anniversary
It is not all bliss,
A long marriage.
It is not constant joy.
It is not painless.
It is not without challenge.
It knows the heat of void and loss and regret.
It is not all bliss.
It is so much more that those things.
It is sweet hope,
A blessed union,
An envelope for sorrow,
A thousand shared joys,
Salve for the pains of growth,
A hand to help the other ascend
A vessel to be filled, a world of discovery, a book of happiness.
It is not all bliss.
Not all, no.
But so much of it is.
And when these are weighed -
Bliss and sorrow -
Not matter the losses;
No matter the gains -
The side of bliss
Will fall first to the table
Always the greater measure.
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