Truths on commitment and marriage from Robert Fulghum

Robert Fulghum is an American author the title of whose book you may know : “All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten”. He was born in 1937.

I used a quote of his at a wedding on Saturday – what he described is truth, not premise. Here it is:

“You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this
point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that
moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making
commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held
in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks - all those conversations that
began with, "When we're married", and continued with "I will" and "you will"
and "we will" - all those late night talks that included "someday" and
"somehow" and "maybe" - and all those promises that are unspoken
matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real
process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one
another, "You know all those things that we've promised, and hoped, and
dreamed - well, I meant it all, every word."

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this
moment you have been many things to one another - acquaintance, friend,
companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned
much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few
words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you
will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world -
This is my husband. This is my wife.”