Our Marriage
If marriage was anything like my parents' relationship, I didn't want any part of it. So, as a young woman I decided I would never get married.
Then I met Brian Bercht and immediately re-evaluated this decision.
We had a whirlwind romance and were married five weeks after the day we met.
Today, we don't recommend others get married as fast as we did. At the same time, we have no regrets about our marriage. Because of the distance between Texas and Canada, where we respectively lived, and our commitment to refrain from sexual intimacy before marriage, we were counseled to get married right away and our parents gave their blessing.
Imagine phoning your father at the age of 20: “Yeah dad, there's this guy who came down to Texas from Canada on a motorcycle and I want to marry him!”
First, we made a real commitment to each other that we were both determined to keep, and second, we made the commitment before engaging in sexual intimacy. Brian told me, “You're far too valuable of a woman for me to sleep with before I've made a promise to be true to you and take care of you for a lifetime.” My heart melted.
And so began our adventure. If we were to see the future that lay before us, I suppose we would’ve been too frightened to start. Or we would have tried to take a short cut and missed out on the blessings the universe holds for all of us when we determine to live our lives with integrity. No matter what happens. Simply never, ever quitting.
Life often seems to lead us on a zigzagged path, rather than straight to the goal. But, I am convinced that each detour along the way holds a lesson uniquely designed to prepare us for our greater destiny, if we are only courageous enough to learn through our marriage.
As the saying goes, “Joy comes in the journey, not just in the final destination.” Where we come from isn't nearly as important as where we're going.
Who could have ever guessed we would one day be known as affair recovery specialists, Brian and Anne Bercht?