I was once asked about the most memorable day of my life, and I have had many! Each day a child is born is always memorable; believe it or not, winning certain sports games in my life has also been an unforgettable experience. Of course, the day I was married, and many more. One that I shared then was a day in mid-April 1978. I was recently engaged to a girl I had met at college. She had left early to go home to prepare for our wedding, which was June 1st. I finished my exams at college and caught a flight to Portland, Oregon, to see her and meet her parents for the first time. I was so nervous. I wanted her parents to like me, and I wanted to like them. She picked me up in a green Chrysler Cordoba with a white fake convertible top at the airport. She was so bubbly and excited to see me. As she drove home from the airport, she was non-stop talking about “her” city with all its beauty. She stopped to show me the Zoo, the Rose Gardens, and everything she could think of about every landmark.I was happy when we pulled into her driveway because it was a typical middle-class home like mine. As we walked through the door, her Mom greeted us in the hallway, and she was dressed to the “T”. She was very professional and put together. I could tell immediately that my fiancé had been raised in a home of order and etiquette. We spent some time talking with her mother and met her younger brother, who was about fourteen at the time. This girl I was marrying was so full of life that she was bursting with energy and vivaciousness. I had never met a girl like her before. She made me smile just being beside her. She loved life, and it seemed everyone loved her, including me.

Later, her father came home dressed in a suit. He worked for IBM as a manager, and I liked him instantly. Who wouldn’t? Later that night, her sister and husband came with their one-year-old baby. I liked them too. I liked them all. I was so happy that the family I was marrying into was a family like mine.

Most of all, I remember my feelings for the girl I was about to marry. No girl had ever ignited such joy in me as she. I never wanted to leave her again. I slept that night in her brother’s waterbed. Early the following day, at the crack of dawn, my future wife crept into the room and jumped on the water bed, which practically made me fly off the bed. She laughed. Who was this girl who could make me feel so alive? I found out, and I’ve never been disappointed in my decision to marry that girl. That was a special day for me. One I always remember and one I cherish. 

Often, when I attend weddings, I reminisce about one of the most memorable days of my life. I know the couple getting married is experiencing those same wonderful feelings, and I pray they will “make it” to the end as a couple. One piece of advice I would give after 47+ years is to keep Jesus Christ at the center of your marriage. Make Him an essential third party in your relationship. There is no guarantee that a marriage here on earth will be heaven. But using Him as your guide will undoubtedly increase your chances a hundredfold so that decades later, the most memorable day of your life will be intact! As a side note, get a waterbed!