A Real Love Story

by Jamie Campbell, in Musings (4 Comments)

This week is Valentine’s Day. Instead of going on a rant and rave like I usually do at this time of year, I’m going to stay positive and tell you about a real love story.

Last year I was Bridesmaid as my niece’s wedding. My niece, Olivia, is like a sister to me. We grew up together and anyone who has played with dolls as much as we did, is sister material in my book. So Olivia married Luke in picturesque Queenstown, New Zealand.

Liv and Luke met when they were teenagers and they’ve been together ever since – about ten years. It didn’t matter that they lived in different countries, were so young, or had so many obstacles placed in their way, they stayed together through it all. Everybody expected it to be a fleeting thing, but they showed us. They turned a teen online relationship into a true, deep connection. Awww.

Even after all this time, they really are the cutest couple. They’ve grown up together into two wonderful adults that are the most sensible and kind human beings. Luke has been around long enough that we didn’t even need to welcome him into the family at the wedding, he was already firmly a part of it.

 

So to this couple, I wish nothing but a lifetime of happiness and prosperity. Not just because they deserve it, but because they make me believe that true love and soul mates exist. I have no doubt that Liv and Luke will still be together when they are ninety, shuffling around in their walkers and scrapbooking together. No doubt whatsoever.

Below is the poem I wrote that was read expertly by the Mate of Honour (thanks Jarrod!) at the wedding reception. I hope you enjoy and never stop looking for that elusive love. It exists, I’m sure.

Love is Found

Love is found when you plan forever
Laugh, dance and smile together
It’s in every moment you miss them
Want, need, and kiss them.

Love is found in the eyes of your children
In being a good mother and father
It’s in that absolute moment
When you realise you can’t live without each other.

People spend a lifetime waiting
Searching high and low
So when you find that love
You can never ever let it go.

Life goes by in just a minute
We get caught up in the mundane
But don’t take each other for granted
Say ‘I love you’ each and every day.

For love is something to cherish
Grasp it with both hands
You’ll always be in it together
Symbolised by your wedding bands.

If life is nothing but a journey
Then love would be the confetti
It falls around you every day
If it makes a mess, then just forget it.

But love isn’t found in the grand gestures
It’s not in the ‘I do’s’
It’s in every day before and after
When you say ‘I choose you’

I choose you to hold on tight
I choose you to make me laugh
I choose you to share my deepest fears
And I choose you to fall asleep with every night.

Today we celebrate a first day of marriage
And we toast to many more
It’s clear you’ve found that elusive love
Today we’ve never been so sure.

So we are not all gathered here
To witness the ‘I’ do’s’ today
We are here, Livy and Luke,.
To see your journey underway.

• Tweet