I Said Yes To , Until Death Do Us Part

The air was cool. 

Chores were done. 

We headed out. 

We dressed in layers. 

We drove almost 2 hours to a fair. 

Not just any fair. 

The Tunbridge World's Fair. 

A place where time stands still. 

Where cattle are milked. 

Displays of pumpkins and flowers line every building.
Equipment through the generations are scattered around the space. 

Where smells of roasting corn and fried dough permeate the air. 

The hum of the rides and the dazzling lights make this place a feast for the senses. 

We held hands and giggled. 

So fun to be together. 

He wanted to ride the ferris wheel. 

I didn't want to spend the money. 

We walked hand in hand. 

He asked if we could sit in the cattle barn. 

The bleachers empty. 

It was quiet. 

We sat next to each other. 

He looked at me. 

He asked if we could spend the rest of our lives getting
 to know each other and being best friends. 

I looked at him. 

He reached in his jacket pocket. 

He gave me his great grandmothers ring.
This kind, blue eyed man. 

To have and hold, until death do us part. 

I said yes. 

And this winter when the "in sickness and in health,
until death do you part" knocked on our door,

I thought back to that day. 

To all the days since. 

To heart ache and joy. 

To the pain of a child taken too soon. 

I thought through the years.

To gratitude.

To promises made. 

To promises kept. 

In sickness and in health. 

Until death do we part. 

I said yes. 

And I would say it again and again and again.

Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: 
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
 I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.