A Wedding Shower - July 1979

I've embarked on the rather formidable project of digitizing thousands of our family photos and putting the originals into albums that will, hopefully, stand the test of time unlike the original albums.  This is a difficult task, folks!  Practically every photo or scrap of paper evokes some memory, which is followed by another memory and chased by yet another memory.  Pretty soon I realize I've succumbed to a hike of epic proportions up Memory Mountain and back down again.  Yes, I have a Memory Mountain in my life with boulders, precipices, slippery slopes and magnificent views accompanied by the requisite Memory Valleys.  I don't know about you, but a sweet little "Memory Lane" actually doesn't exist.Anyway, I thought it would be fun (?) to blog a bit during the process, bringing one or two thoughts, memories or musings to light as I journey "there and back again."Today, I spent time deconstructing and reconstructing an album from the one wedding shower I had before we got married.  It was a "Library Shower."  Super creative, right?  Yes, it was, and the lovely family that hosted it is the same family that brought my husband into my life in the first place.  During the shower, everyone in attendance was given a sheet of paper upon which to write and illustrate a "favorite literary quotation suitable for a bride."  The quotes range in depth and topic from a few words to a sonnet to a passage of Scripture to an original poem.  Some are funny, some are sweet.  All of them came from dear friends and family.  Today, over 36 years later, as I re-read the quotations, I read them through a different lens than I possibly could have in the weeks before our wedding.  I'm grateful for the many years and hopeful for many more.  Here are a few thoughts from the shower in July 1979.The bonds of matrimony aren't worth much unless the interest is kept up. ~Stacy (can you tell she was an accountant?!) Create memories you will be able to enjoy again and again. ~Sandy (still a close friend with ongoing good advice!)Happy the Bride the Sun Shines on. ~Gay (mentally handicapped daughter of the hostess, both of whom are no longer with us)God, teach me to try and live my life just one day at a time; all for you.  ~Yvette (7 year-old daughter of the hostess)Love is never impatient, but kind; love knows no jealousy; love makes no parade; gives itself no airs.  Love is never rude, seeks not her own; nor fights for her own rights, is never resentful; never imagines that others are plotting evil against her... Never broods over wrongs; never exults over the mistakes of others; but is truly gladdened by goodness.  Love suffers silently, is always trustful, always cheerful always patient.  ~Carol (a personal paraphrase of I Corinthians 13:4-7)Woman was taken out of man - Not out of his head, to rule over him; not out of his feet, to be trampled under him; but out of his side, to be equal to him--under his arm, that he might protect her, and near his heart that he might love her.  ~Rene (a quote from Matthew Henry)...Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove.  O, no!  It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken...Love's not times fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come...  ~Charlotte (the hostess wrote out Shakespeare's Sonnet 1609)