The girl in white

The girl, all dressed in white, in all glory and beauty, glowing from deep within.

When the music plays, we turn our heads, stand and give her our fullest attention.

Hand on her father's arms, walking down the aisle, towards the man she's going to spend the rest of her life with.

His eyes, oh his eyes.. filled with her image, completely mesmerised by her beauty, by her grace, filled with the yearning of spending the rest of his life with her.

They exchange their vows, "in sickness and in health, till death do us apart". They bind their love with the exchange of rings, signifying the eternity of their love, the entwining of their beings, their souls and their life. They are one.

That's what I love about weddings. I cannot help but tear each time I hear the vows because as "cliche" as it may be, as long as it is said with all sincerity and the longing of spending the rest of their lives together, it can be the most powerful proclamation of love. How many people can do just that? In sickness and in health. In poverty and in riches.

I always wonder, do people just take a vow because it is part of the routine, or because they know they will hold true to their promises?

In this day and age where skirts are getting shorter, pants falling faster and morals looser, how many people actually live by their vows? The vow of fidelity, of loyalty and of love. The rising divorce rates is a clear example of the dilution of the sanctity of marriage. It is hard to believe in the institution of marriage when societal norms degrade the value of it. When the media portrays marriage to be a time of heeheehaha and when the going gets tough, it's to the lawyers they go.

That's just something that I cannot get. Why can't people understand that Love, true love requires effort, conscious effort and hard work. It's easy to feel passionate about someone, but to keep that passion going requires more than just, "a spark" or "feel". It's about loving the person the way he/she wants to be loved. Not just showing love the way you like it, but the way the other person relates to it. It is about compromise, about giving and taking, it is about communication, tolerance and above all that, it is about Love. Loving the way the person talks, the way person looks in the morning, the little habits, the way the person walks, wrinkles his/her nose, the way you feel complete when you look into each others eyes, the way he/she completes your sentences, reads you like a book and the way your fingers fit like a glove. Why do people not realise and not see these? The initial things that made them fall in love with one another.

I may not have been in a relationship long enough to understand, but I believe I'm someone who'll put in a conscious effort to let my other half know just how important his presence is in my life.

Many girls may not agree with my train of thought, but I do believe men and women play specific roles and some boundaries should never be crossed. For one, men should NEVER be house husbands. Men should take up the responsibility of the household, of bringing home the bacon and as much as women would like to argue, (that said, I have to say that I do believe in a woman's capabilities and abilities and am very sure that we can achieve as much), BUT, I believe women should focus more on being the nurturer of the family. You can work but don't make climbing the corporate ladder the main focus. Again, I know many girls will be shaking their heads when they read this, but that's just what I think.

When the day comes for me to be the girl in white, I wish I will walk down the aisle with my vow in hand, to tell my special someone, "If I had the chance to live my life again, I'd live it the exact same way simply because you're in it, I want to spend every living moment knowing that I will be walking down the aisle into your arms and spend the rest of my days growing old with you. Even as life gets routine, boring and tough, it's worth living because I'm living it with you, because you, complete me." I hope that in time to come, I'd find this special person that I'm looking for, this special someone who I'll pace my heart to, whose very presence makes my heart beat faster and slower at the same time. Till then.. I'm keeping my heart for him.