They didn’t wear any jewelry either, because “their lasting legacy will not be determined by the balance of their bank account but by the good deeds they perform and the values that pervade their home and which they will instill in their children.”
During the silence between the two as they “wordlessly beseeched God to bless them with the ability and strength to establish a God-fearing household which yields generations of virtuous descendants, ” I had asked Eino to offer a special prayer for Ronny’s soul. We heard that Andrea added a prayer for her grandparents, who had died in Russia.
At the end of the ceremony, Eino was handed a glass, which he smashed with his foot. That action also has a special significance, but to tell you the truth I was so moved by the whole of what I had witnessed I don’t remember what he said at that time.
After that came the wedding reception, which we held in the lower level of the synagogue. It was like wedding receptions the world over—with the bride and groom at a special table—where they were served wine (even Eino drank some) and where everyone danced (although there were a few Jewish dances with which we were unfamiliar, but which Eino entered into with great aplomb.)
All in all, it was a day filled with much joy and happiness.
Postscript
As I look back on all those years, I must admit we have been truly fortunate. Our love, which we found in the front seat of a Model T, has lasted without any lessening now for over fifty years.
On our fiftieth anniversary, we hosted a big party at the Virginia Memorial Building, with over two hundred people in attendance, and we danced to Walter Alt’s music just as we had at our wedding dance so many years before.
So it has been with us through the years. Like Eino and Andrea, we too were bound… not by tradition but by creation—the creation of a family that has been held together by love.
As I look back on the years, I feel so very… happy. Glad. Ecstatic. All of those adjectives fit perfectly. Arvo and I had truly been two halves of one whole, and the whole of our union has wrought nothing between us but joy.
I feel incredibly blessed. We feel blessed. Obviously God has smiled on our love and found it good.
Gifts of the Spirit Page 38
