"Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald."
Man, this quote always gets me. I re-read The Four Loves last year and was astounded at the gems in there.
I have recently been thinking of this quote in a new way for me - in the light of how friendships you have together with your spouse give you more of your spouse. We have moved cross-country (away from dear friends) twice in our short marriage, and I the reality of that quote holds up. When we were regularly with friends, eating meals and having conversations, doing regular life together with our kids and making stuff with tools and going to the beach together and whatnot.... we each got to see more facets of each other. Those friendships can truly be a rich and illuminating dynamic. We unearth, see, and get more of each other — with the converse being true as well.
We are starting a monthly board game day. I'm a little nervous about bringing together various aspects of my life, in particular the "Catholic homeschooler" aspect and the "friends of my college kids who still live with me" aspect. I just don't know how the latter will react to the larger, younger families I hope will come. It will probably be fine, and I'm just leaving it up to God. We want to open our home on a regular basis to everyone we know and see what happens.
Great post. I will always cherish the memory of our wedding rehearsal—seeing family and friends from all over the country physically gather together at my home church was surreal. I thought then, and still think, that it was a very small foretaste of heaven, of the whole church of believers in Christ gathered in one place, but then in Paradise, we will never be separated again.
Relatedly, the unending rings of friendship is another one; praying for friends of friends that I don’t know, and others praying for me. It can be intimidating to introduce people from different rings, but it can also promise a potentially rich joy. I know so many people who have become dear friends through other friends linking them together. I hope remembering this motivates me to keep trying to connect people and be open to meeting others myself; I never know how God will work through people meeting others.
"Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald."
I love this so so much. Thank you.
Man, this quote always gets me. I re-read The Four Loves last year and was astounded at the gems in there.
I have recently been thinking of this quote in a new way for me - in the light of how friendships you have together with your spouse give you more of your spouse. We have moved cross-country (away from dear friends) twice in our short marriage, and I the reality of that quote holds up. When we were regularly with friends, eating meals and having conversations, doing regular life together with our kids and making stuff with tools and going to the beach together and whatnot.... we each got to see more facets of each other. Those friendships can truly be a rich and illuminating dynamic. We unearth, see, and get more of each other — with the converse being true as well.
We are starting a monthly board game day. I'm a little nervous about bringing together various aspects of my life, in particular the "Catholic homeschooler" aspect and the "friends of my college kids who still live with me" aspect. I just don't know how the latter will react to the larger, younger families I hope will come. It will probably be fine, and I'm just leaving it up to God. We want to open our home on a regular basis to everyone we know and see what happens.
Great post. I will always cherish the memory of our wedding rehearsal—seeing family and friends from all over the country physically gather together at my home church was surreal. I thought then, and still think, that it was a very small foretaste of heaven, of the whole church of believers in Christ gathered in one place, but then in Paradise, we will never be separated again.
Relatedly, the unending rings of friendship is another one; praying for friends of friends that I don’t know, and others praying for me. It can be intimidating to introduce people from different rings, but it can also promise a potentially rich joy. I know so many people who have become dear friends through other friends linking them together. I hope remembering this motivates me to keep trying to connect people and be open to meeting others myself; I never know how God will work through people meeting others.