This was posted on another forum I frequent, and I thought it so insightful that I asked permission to repost it on my weblog. The author is Megan Clarke, and she took the photo as well.
I came across my late grandmother’s wedding band in my mom’s jewelry box (I was there with permission!) I had never seen it before, since my grandmother was widowed long before I was born.
I thought it was very sweet: a gold band with little crosses engraved on it. I mentioned that to my mom, and she laughed. In actuality, the “crosses” started off as orange blossoms, and with time, they wore down so all that remained were cross-like figures. Apparently my grandmother always found that ironic; their marriage was troubled and they were separated for years before his death.
The symbolism struck me, though. We all get married with orange blossoms and discover unexpected crosses along the way. I was reminded that my Grummy is praying for my marriage and our crosses, and there are many people and saints praying for all of us who struggle within our marriages.
Please join me today in praying for those in troubled marriages. Please pray that as the orange blossoms fade into crosses, that the couples can carry their crosses together rather than separately.
My husband and I have hit that wonderful 2-3 year point where the orange blossoms start to get rubbed into crosses. I still haven’t figured out why we’ve been arguing so much, but I know we’re not alone and the bad moments are still much smaller than the good hours (and days)!
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