Casados Casados

I was 11 years old the first time I played the piano at a wedding.  As the bride walked down the aisle, The groom became ill and excused himself.  

When she arrived at the altar, she stood alone for a few moments, before the groom reappeared (looking quite shaken up).  I can only imagine her thoughts while waiting for him!

SInce then, I have played many more weddings at the same church from my childhood.  Our pastor Father José used to give every couple the same advice.  For some reason, it never got old.

His homilies were in Spanish.  He would say, “Hay que vivir como casados casados!”  Translation: “You need to live like married married people.”  

Father José would contrast this advice to living like “solteros casados,” single married people.  He would advise the couple against maintaining completely separate schedules or spending too much time apart.

If the groom’s friends should ask him, “Why do you spend all your time with her when you used to spend it with us?”,  Father recommended the groom respond, “Because I like her better than you.”

It was a humorous and endearing image.

I remember sitting at that same piano bench in our church 4 years ago with David, when we were engaged.  It was his birthday.  I surprised him by playing “Interior Gaze,” a song I wrote as his gift that year.

Fast forward to today: we are married with two children, we just released my new "Interior Gaze" album, and we are now in the first week of our year-long musical tour.  

I recently described our travel plans to my dentist (yeah, random).  She asked if David and I would be okay.  “Will you get along?”  I found myself laughing in response.  Of all the decisions leading up to this tour, that was not a question.

David and I are used to sharing everything.  We work, pray, travel, run, raise our children, and make music together.  Sure, there are days when we are tired, off-schedule and pretty grouchy.  But part of living like casados casados means we share that, too.

I’m grateful for a husband who is trustworthy, thoughtful, gentle, hard-working, attentive to details, and prayerful.  Good thing, since we are spending our whole lives together, right?

Happy 25th birthday to my favorite person.

Love,

Amanda