I am willing to admit I am one of the many that set their alarms for 4am on Friday morning to watch the Royal Wedding. I have several reasons for this, first, I am an unashamed Angophile, second, I watched Charles and Diana's wedding thirty years ago and being able to watch their son's wedding seemed fitting, and third, at heart I am a romantic.
That being said, I am not a big believer of fairy tales. I have lived long enough to know your prince may come but like all the rest of us, a prince is a human being who is flawed. The same goes for the princess. We are all flawed. So, it wasn't seeing a "commoner" marrying her prince and living happily ever after that appealed to me. It was much more.
Weddings, or really good weddings, or maybe I should say really "earnest" weddings with heartfelt emotions are to me, a symbol of the some of the best of what we as human beings are capable of. Think of it, despite all the negative things going on in the rest of the world, with sky rocketing divorce rates, two people stand up and say, "We think we can make it!"
There is something so courageous about that, and that is so appealing to me.
On a daily basis, we see betrayal,relationships falling apart, messy, horrible divorces, children tugged between parents and much more. It can make us doubt ourselves, our way of life and what we believe in. It certainly makes us doubt the whole fairy tale! And yet, every day, couples across the world defy the odds. Now some of the skeptics out there may say this is not courage but foolishness. Why would you embark on marriage when the success rate is falling? Why indeed?
Do we continue to pledge our love to another because we are foolish, or because we are courageous? Do we do this because we think "our" love will survive, or that we will be different? Or do we do this because we as human beings need to believe in the future, in hope and in love?
Maybe now more than ever we need the kind of love that makes us feel we can overcome everything placed in front of us. When we watch a couple look into each other's eyes and see only possibility, we want that too.
We want the feeling someone is willing to promise their all to us, but probably more importantly, we want, even for a few moments, to have someone believe in us, in our very best self, and see all the promise and possibilities we have! Our flawed imperfect selves for that moment become a prince or princess or if you prefer a super hero! Have you ever listen to someone talk about the love of their life and watched their face transform, their eyes sparkle. They see that person in ways that you don't see them.
So, when I watched that young couple on Friday, I saw a couple showing the world despite all that has happened in the world, in their own families, they were willing to take the chance on each other and on love.
Who knows how things will turn out for them, but I hope they defy the odds. I hope they have a long and happy life together. Because that will give us all hope and courage.
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