La fiesta de bodas, 1905
Fuente: https://www.wikiart.org/
My mother, a practical and fun-loving woman, used to say that “love is blind, but marriage restores its sight.”
However, she and my father celebrated almost sixty years of happy “blindness.”
This topic comes to mind because this past week I had the unusual pleasure of “sneaking in” at least eight weddings.
Well, perhaps that’s not the most accurate term, but the fact is that I witnessed multiple wedding ceremonies at the Caribbean resort where I had the pleasure of vacationing this week.
From my beach lounge chair, wine in hand, I saw every detail: the creation of the floral arrangements, the placement of the lights and tables, the music rehearsals, the moment the guests began to arrive.
I must say it brought back sweet memories of my own wedding, back in a small fishing village on the coast of Venezuela.
The groom, elegant and nervous, waiting for his beloved.
She, in white, radiant smile, heart racing.
Loving glances and finally the most anticipated words… I pronounce you husband and wife.
A kiss, applause, the popping of champagne, pure happiness.
It’s moving to see that love endures.
I remembered Octavio Paz, “the world changes if two people look at each other and recognize each other…”
And that poem by Francisco Luis Bernárdez, “to be in love, friends, is to find the true name of life…it is to perceive in someone’s eyes a genuine gaze that looks back at us…it is to find in someone’s hands the warmth of perfect companionship…”
I admit it, I’m an incorrigible romantic. I hope you don’t get too sentimental with these extra sweet lines.
I wish all those couples I witnessed saying “I do” much happiness, and that despite what my mother said, that blind love never, ever regains its sight.
From my sunny balcony, every afternoon I raised my glass to the newlyweds, feeling the salty breeze, the murmurs of the sea, memories…
