Promises

One hundred years ago today

A boy and girl were scared

Together in the chapel,

Neither one of them prepared

To spend a life exclusively

In one another’s heart,

But shared a kiss and promise there

‘Til death tore them apart.

Five years from that fateful day

A child joined the two

And once again they stood in fear

Without a hope or clue,

Uncertain how to raise a child

And keep him safe from pain,

But wrapped him in a blanket

And they walked him through the rain.

When fifteen years expired

Since the day they said “I do,”

They met a world of poverty

And skies were seldom blue,

And sometimes they’d go weeks on end

And not a dollar see,

But when they ate, they said their prayers

They ate as family.

Twenty years and thirty went

And forty passed away

And what was young was wrinkled up

And what was brown turned gray.

The easy things got harder

And the hard things all stayed tough,

But a couple has each other

And for them that was enough.

A hundred years ago today

Two words were said by two

And love that was uncertain then

We now can see was true.

There’s always rain, there’s always fear,

There’s always poverty,

And there will always be two more

To find serenity.