vows

Brent’s vows to Tammy

My dearest Tammy,

The minute you came through the door that beautiful San Francisco evening, I knew I met someone special. Your beautiful smile and warmth made the room feel brighter. Soon, you became my best-friend, love, partner and fellow adventurer.

We’ve journeyed both near and far and through this incredible journey we have grown as a couple and individually. From the soaring sand dunes of Namibia to the craggy coast of Maine, you have been by my side and willing to step into the unknown. We’ve detoured off icy Icelandic roads and gazed upon mountains, streams, and an elusive arctic fox. And we’ve escaped an angry elephant herd in Botswana who had seen enough humans for one day.

We decided to seek out awesome experiences and fill our lives with adventure. We have explored the world together and shared many beautiful places.

We are there for each other in good days and in bad. And we help each other overcome life’s challenges. When we moved in together, I said, “We can solve any problem together.” to remind you that nothing should get in the way of our happiness. We not only figured out how to make our lives work but we have built a warm home together where the five of us laugh, grow, and endlessly discuss our special cat.

You have taught me to believe in myself and to have the courage to try things I may have thought impossible. You have taught me to always persevere. You bring out the best in me and remind of the importance of being patient toward myself and others. You always make me want to be a better man.

I promise to love you unconditionally, as you have loved me, and to always be there when you need me. I promise to respect you and your point of view, and to hear you even when we don’t agree.

I promise to encourage and support you through all of our days. I promise to also encourage and support your children, Avery, Towers, and Ella, as they make their way through the world.

And finally, I promise to be the best husband that I know how to be each and every day.

tammy’s vows to brent

Brent,

Your love has healed my heart and in so doing you have shown me how much more love my heart can hold.  You’ve taught me what it means to be loved for exactly who I am. 

During our first date, I had the sense that I was exquisitely lucky to have met you.  Your genuine interest in me as a person, your intelligence, and complete absence of any pretense, ignited something in me I had never felt before.  I felt a calmness come over me and a return to myself that I couldn’t quite reconcile.  As our relationship began to unfold, I got to see the source of that calmness and the call to simply be myself.

You’ve pushed me to trust that leaning on you would not make me weak but instead give me strength I’ve never known before.  You define partnership, romance, adventure, friendship and most of all love for me. 

Falling in love with you has been like opening a door into a world of happiness with pathways that have led me to the most beautiful places.  Our love has revealed an inner landscape of beauty in each of us that seems to keep blooming and keep us growing individually and together.  The biggest surprise of all for me has been learning that when I’m truly loved for who I am, more of who I am keeps emerging.

You have so naturally supported my ideas and encouraged me to take the biggest risks and to surround myself with people who believe in me too.

Loving you is effortless, it has become like breathing.  I can’t imagine a life for me or my children without you in it.

And so, I feel honored to be entering into this ancient vessel called marriage, with you.

I vow to honor all that we have built together.  I promise to love you through my words, thoughts, and actions.  I promise to nurture our friendship and always stay curious with you.  I promise to hear you and ask you to hear me and to always believe in your words that, “We can solve any problem together.”  I promise to keep following you on the furthest and most remote adventures and to also create new adventures for you.  And most of all I promise to stay present in our love.