Couples

Today is the Third Wedding Anniversary for one of my most favorite couples: Krista and Jordan Hoffmann.

This means that three years ago today, they made me fly to Hawaii to celebrate their wedding.  To call it a third anniversary, though, seems a little bizarre, because they started dating when we were all seniors in high school.  So they've actually been together for around ten years now.

In those ten years, I have happily spent countless hours as their third wheel.  Krista and I have been friends since we were 10, when her mom made her invite me to her birthday party even though my haircut made me look like a boy.  And though it took Jordan a few months to win me over at the start, those days seem like ancient history after all the time we've spent together laughing at Krista's expense.

Good Friday always reminds me of these two, too.  While we were in college, Jordan and I somehow got roped into attending a Good Friday service at Krista's parents' church.  I could try to explain to you why it was so hilarious that there was a woman crouching behind a table in the pitch black church, periodically snuffing out candles, but there's no way to do it justice.  All I can say is that Jordan and I were laughing so hard that we were shaking the pew.  And Krista was ready to kill. us. dead.  But we couldn't stop.  It was all very Mary-Tyler-Moore-at-the-funeral.

I remember this because it was funny, but also because I had come home that weekend while recovering from the single devastating heartbreak of my life.  And, as usual, Jordan didn't mind me tagging along during his precious little time with Krista away from West Point.  I also remember it because being with these two has always reminded me what love can be like, and how stable relationships with the right person can make us better versions of ourselves.

I've heard that some women feel jealous or slighted when their best friends get married.  Not me.  Three years ago, I got to attend the wedding of one of my best friends to a man who has been so good to her, and a couple that together has been so good to me, that it was honestly one of the happiest moments of my life.  And I'm not sure I've ever told them that, so I wanted to say so today.

Krista and Jordan, I love you both.  I believe Clara and baby-to-be-named-later are two of the most fortunate children on this earth simply for having you two as parents.  I can't wait to see how high you teach them to climb.

(Couples is a novel by John Updike which features couples who are nothing at all like Krista and Jordan.  Which, if you've read the novel, you'll realize is a compliment to them.)