The Private Speech I Made Public

by Pam Goodwin
(Cleveland, TN USA)

This is my personal story...

My husband and I had only known each other three months before we decided to get married. We knew everyone would try to talk us out of it, so we decided to leave work one day at lunch, go to the court house and just "do it".

I had been out of a four year relationship only a couple of months and my husband had only been divorced seven months from his second wife. I was 27 and he was 34.

After the shock from our families wore off, we told them we intended to have a small wedding. This released a lot of tension and made our mothers feel like they had a part in the decision. So we set a date. A couple of weeks after my husband asked his younger brother to be the best man, he showed up at our house with a wedding gift. He explained he wasn't good at giving speeches in public so he wanted to do it right then. First, he gave us both a necklace with only half of a heart on each chain and this is what he said, "Brother, you know I love you, and I have been so worried cause this is your third marriage. I know you love Pam and so does the family, so I got you guys these necklaces so you would know who had the other part of your heart. So as long as you keep them, nobody else can take your heart".

Now I know that wasn't written by a professional and he was right, he can't make speeches, but it was from his heart. He believed what he said and it touched me in a very special way. I talked him into saying it at the wedding just the way he said it that night. People probably thought, "what kind of speech was that to give at a wedding? His third marriage?!?!"

That was 20 years ago and we're still happily married. I'm ashamed to say I don't know where the necklaces are, but I think about them and his speech often and it always brings a smile to my face.