skrapnel

Logged into Facebook on Tuesday and saw this update from my good friend and former roommate Aaron:

After years of separation and a pending divorce, I’ve recently started dating again.  With dating comes searching anxiety, constant self evaluation and the fear of rejection.  After you’ve been with someone for awhile, these fears slowly fade but a lingering, nagging voice questions, “Is this really the one?”  As you  move through engagement and on to marriage, that voice vanishes, leaving a sense of peace; the drive to find your other half is gone. You are complete.

When I saw Aaron’s post on Facebook, I remembered that peace and instantly grinned from ear-to-ear.  Aaron is such an amazing person who has overcome so many struggles.  When I watch him and Christian interact, I see the shared love and mutual goals of two people acting as one complete being.  That vision of unity is no different than the one I see shared between my brother and his wife.  And my reaction to his engagement wasn’t any different:  My heart glowed with elation because any love in this world raises the presence of peace within all of us.

We all deserve to love, be loved and register our love with the government.  The papers, the ring, the ceremony.  These are symbols that represent a declaration of and commitment to mutual goals.  To me, it’s silly that a person or a state would want to withhold that joy from someone.  The state’s job is to protect–not limit–personal freedoms.  It’s time that people stop the hateful, hurtful lies  and remember that marriage is about love.

Congratulations, Aaron and Christian! And congratulations to every couple, straight or gay, who continues to bring love into the world.