That's a line from a song I wrote, called, creatively, Paper Anniversary Song, for my wife Arlee on our first anniversary. Perhaps some day, I'll post an mp3 of it. I remember it moved her to tears. I don't think it was my singing that made her cry...
It was some 18 years ago. I have a hard time resolving that with my perception that not so much time has passed, but I guess it has. A teenager, a tween-ager, three cats, five countries and two careers later: I still feel the same. I don't always do as good of a job, showing it.
The lyrics are like this:
A year ago this night, I took you for my bride.
It's been a glorious flight; it's been a joyous ride.
You're my love and you're my wife, and you're my soul and you're my life.
I don't know where I'd be without your love guiding me:
I'll always love you, my graceful blushing bride.
I'll always love you, and hold you by my side.
In 1993 our two lives joined as one.
We ran to Hawaii; our adventure had begun:
Lava rocks in piles of three, an offering to a deity.
Lahaina Harbor on Maui--we scaled a mountain, swam the sea.
I'll always love you, my graceful blushing bride.
I'll always love you, and hold you by my side.
Our love together grows with each passing hour.
Like a living rose--the opening of a flower.
Lightning bolts and buffalo; ice-skate grace, your cheeks aglow
Bless all that you've given me: a family that is poetry.
I'll always love you, my graceful blushing bride.
I'll always love you, my partner and my pride.
I was going to add a verse, each year, and in fact did that for awhile, but somewhere along the way I lost track; the song was just getting to be too long and the verses honestly too corny. But these, I repeat whenever I sing it for her, with the changed last verse line--it was originally "Of all that you've given me, best are cats and aardvark poetry (which was kind of an "inside joke" and, well, goofy-sounding. Even with the change, the teenager cringes, as he does when I sing him the song I wrote for/about him when he was six years old and just becoming a big brother.
All that to come around to say: my "partner and pride" has started her own blog, to write about writing, and to post installments of her novel in progress. I am proud to sign up as its first follower.
Despite the fact that she is a passionate, and a good, writer--with more than one completed but unpublished novel under her belt--or, perhaps because of that fact, she is shy about sharing her writing, about "putting it out there."
But, you can now check her out on http://arleeolson.blogspot.com/ and read about A Wiener Dog Advent, which will have one installment each day of Advent. Fun, huh?
