” … I will honor and cherish you, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer …”
For many years, the traditional wedding vows have served as a verbal announcement and binding of a couple’s promise to one another.
That testimony of love has unfortunately lost its strength for many couples nowadays, but for others, the covenant is lived out for the remainder of their lives.
To witness how time ages such a bond is remarkable, and I was privileged to commemorate part of that maturing process last Saturday when my grandparents, Pete and Ines Lopez, celebrated 50 years of marriage.
Festivities for the occasion had been successful from the start. Innumerable friends and family members traveled to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in El Monte, Calif. – where my grandparents had basically raised their children – to honor the couple through a Mass.
Extended family inclusive of godparents, nieces and nephews, among others, caught up on old times and memories as they lined the patio of the parish in wait of the ceremony. Around the parish, my mother and her siblings repeatedly paced to their cars and back, working on last-minute details that may have been overlooked or otherwise forgotten.
Through it all, my grandmother sat in the back pew of the parish, patiently waiting for my grandfather to return from his daily coffee run to a café down the street.
Those in attendance took their seats in the church soon after my grandfather arrived, just as the priest was prepared to begin the Mass. Our family (my immediate cousins, aunts, uncles, parents and siblings) then preceded my grandparents in walking down the aisle in the same way they did half a century ago.
During the entire re-marriage ceremony, sentiments of love, respect and honor permeated the setting. No one could really deny that this couple loved each other as much, if not more, as they had vowed to one another 50 years ago. Aside from occasional tears and smiles that could be expected from such an event, the feelings were so overwhelming, in fact, that my grandfather fainted as he escorted his wife out the church after the Mass.
And that was only the beginning of what continued as a spectacular and awesome memory. (My grandfather recovered quickly, by the way). The reception immediately following the Mass was more remarkable, as even more family members and friends gathered to be a part of the momentous celebration.
Throughout the evening, nothing but happiness followed my grandparents. An aura of satisfaction with their life together followed them wherever they went; they were meant for each other, and no one could whole-heartedly deny that fact.
As they patiently strolled through the reception hall to welcome and reunite with guests, they walked hand in hand-as if they were still youthful sweethearts.
Everything was beautiful, altogether perfect.
I have never seen my grandparents look so radiant and full of life. My grandmother was glowing, like a beauty queen, as if that moment served as the greatest day of her life. My grandfather was in high spirits, as if to be as young as he was when he first married the woman that stood at his side.
When it came time to cut the traditional wedding cake, the couple playfully smeared frosting across each other cheeks and noses. And when time for a toast arrived, they hooked arms to give each other champagne, as young couples do on their wedding day.
Moreover, when guests hit the side of their champagne glass with silverware and yelled, “Beso, beso!” (“Kiss, kiss!” in Spanish) my grandparents did not hesitate to give each other a kiss-on two occasions-in front of the 200-plus people that watched as they did so.
The actions and words my grandparents exchanged last week is a true symbol of what marriage vows are meant to employ. After all, marriage is one of the greatest memories in which a couple could share for the rest of their lives.
” … until death do us part.”
Araceli Esparza, a senior journalism major, is editor in chief of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at esparzaa@ulv.edu.
