Monday, April 16, 2018

A Toast to Heather and Jacques

Tasked with a crafting a speech as a bride's maid at my sister's wedding I had many months to plan, but naturally waited until the whiskey started to flow a few nights before the ceremony to put something on paper. In the midst of the excited conversations swirling around I finally found the inspiration to write. So with a glass in one hand and a note book in the other I wrote the following to attempt to describe something imperfect and yet all together beautiful as love.

********************************************************************************

I was walking around Elsabe and Alwyn’s house when I stumbled across a pile of wood. I looked
at the elegant curves of the timber and felt drawn to the metaphor of their creation to describe
something as complex and aesthetic as love. So I wrote a little story to help explain the journey
that Heather and Jacque have embarked upon together.

Peek through the trees draped in their hanging moss while the clouds blossom and flow across
the endless skyline. Flowers in bloom grace the edges of a riverbank in the misty distance. The
river roils and pushes it’s body around each approaching bend while spilling between the
polished stones. Push past the boundaries and approach the shore in an unimpeded bliss. Feel
the sand wriggle between your toes and kneel to observe the earth at your feet. Driftwood
sporadically appears on the waterline but this piece draws you near. Search among the swirling
lines and the withered cavities and unravel its story. What upon the gnarled surface appears a
tumultuous history is a tapestry brushed by a more delicate hand than Van Gogh’s.
Rising broad and tall the magnificent tree stood for centuries gazing across the high mountain
plane. For years its branches served as an amphitheater for the songbird and its blossoms
carried fertile seeds on the carefree winds that caressed the valley. One day in the most
unfortunate of circumstances a sundown storm erupted. One bolt among the volley of lightning
found the highest branch of the tree. With a crackling split the beautiful tree was catapulted over
the edge of the cliff and into the valley below.

And so began the voyage of the wood. It tumbled down the slope with the storms of each
season and was desiccated in the vibrant sunlight. One final push rolled the the wood into the
stream below where it laid to rest in an eddy for some time. Finally, it entered the rapids and the
foaming broth of the powerful mass of water. The wood floated, sunk, bumped against rocks,
and was chewed upon by a weary beaver before it finally came to rest on the shore in which you
now stand. This paragon of nature’s virtuosity has been sculpted by a passionate existence to
be rejuvenated in an unconventional manifestation of splendor.

I reflected on the challenges you both faced to find yourselves together on this magical evening.
I found that rich experience together has cultivated your love into something of natural beauty.
From engaging with elephants in the Zambian bush, to maintaining your bond while being an
ocean apart, and negotiating national border crossings; the obstacles you have surmounted with
decorum and imaginative style could fill the pages of a novel. What you have faced together in
the past will more than prepare you for the unexpected and continually baffling path that you will
weave together throughout life. At least no further obstacle will be as difficult as planning a
wedding.

Take every opportunity to live vibrantly, believe that your love is capable of navigating any
torrent, and find ways to let your shared passion flourish and shine. Learn from each lesson and
with the knowledge that there will be plenty more. Sculpt your love together like two tangled
pieces of driftwood on a sandy shore.

To my sister Heather and my brother Jacques I wish you a marriage brimming with happiness
and filled with unforgettable experience.