To Whom Do You Owe Your Spouse?

To this point, my love, hand in hand, we climbed the steepest mountains and walked down the deepest valleys. Side by side, we fought good fights for each other, for our children, and the kingdom; some we lost, some we won. In step, we ran good races-some long, some short-but never grew weary or fainted. Together, we dreamt and dared many ventures and even though often checkered by setbacks, we never ceased to dream. In all these, together we celebrated glorious moments and also cheered one another in lowly and humbling moments, but through it all, one thing remained a constant companion: faith. We never lost the faith. First, faith in God, who called us as youth; faith in one another; faith in our children; faith in our families; and faith in our friends. It is faith in these entities that gave us the courage, fueled our race, emboldened our daring spirits, and in their sum, inspired purpose to our marriage commitment and to our mutual promise on that day, October 13, 1979, "until death to part." You and I kept that promise faithfully for thirty-five years to this point.