Tomorrow Mac Daddy and I will celebrate our twelfth wedding anniversary. We got married in Key West on a sunny, hot day in the gardens of the Audubon House. Pastor Ken, a retired Navy chaplain conducted the ceremony, and we wrote our own vows. It was simple and touching and intimate, with only our two dear friends Chris and Shan at our sides. We rendezvoused on a sunset cruise after the ceremony and settled in to dinner at Louie’s Backyard. The menu from our wedding day, signed by the chef with a lovely inscription, hangs framed in our kitchen today.
Mac Daddy and I have a great marriage. We laugh and bicker in equal measure and can complete each other’s sentences, right on cue. Just when we think we have heard all our stories, we surprise each other with new material. We dance in the kitchen to Jimmy Buffet’s Tin Cup Chalice, the song of our first dance, a nod to our Key West nuptials. You might describe us as comfortable but not complacent. We laugh easily and truly enjoy each other’s company, whether nestled on the couch to watch TV or meander on a trail with our boys and the dog. We live an easy, good life. It’s not glamorous or sexy, and we’ve never sucked in our stomachs and cheeks for a red carpet photo frenzy, but it is a good, happy life nonetheless. You might say we celebrate the calm. We count our blessings to be in a strong, fulfilling marriage. We have an abundance of joy.
I didn’t grow up with a great role model for marriage. If my parent’s marriage were a reality show on television it would be the high drama counterpart to What Not to Wear: Whom Not to Wed. I absorbed what not to do rather than have good examples to follow. All my life I knew I just wanted a happy family. I have that now and feel 20 shades of blessed.
And to think that there are those who think marriage is for man and woman alone…
To say that gay marriage threatens straight marriage is like saying that someone sitting across from me eating french fries threatens my waistline. It’s absurd. It’s preposterous. It’s flat out discrimination cloaked in Biblical mumbo jumbo. It breaks my heart to think that people who are committed to each other have become political pawns. Their love and dreams and hopes are no different than mine. They too want a happy family. Why is another human being’s happiness on the ballot in my state? Two people who love each other and are committed to each other have the right to marry. Straight couples do not own marriage, and based on my experience, the marriage I grew up seeing gives the very notion of marriage a distinctly sour taste.
Mac Daddy and I oppose Amendment One. Marriage is not reserved for the straight couples of North Carolina, and more importantly, it is despicable to single out a group of citizens to discriminate against them. After all, just a few decades ago I wonder if the state of North Carolina would let me and Mac Daddy get married?
I pledge to VOTE AGAINST AMENDMENT ONE. Join me on May 8.
You’re wonderful. Many happy returns of tomorrow.
Happy 12th Anniversary! And many more to you and MacDaddy! I couldn’t agree with you more and would join you if I lived in your state! My husband and I have been married for almost 36 years and I think anyone committed should be allowed the same right to a marriage as we were. Bless you!