A Wedding Speech to Claudia & Richard

Richard and Claudia are a couple I met back in July in New York. They were married in a civil service a year or so ago. But both families felt left out of something very special. So they decided to have a wedding where everyone can attend. I was invited to come since the best man is his own brother and I have been with his brother for five years.

Anyways, I may be part of the groom's family, but I also know that there will be a select few people to actually say a speech to the bride and the groom. I honestly have no intention of talking and saying anything about them, I'm just there to actually see what goes on in a wedding. I have never been to a wedding in my life and this is the first wedding I have ever been to, so I was lost and confused on how to act and what to do.

Before I left for the wedding, I prepared a nice speech that I tucked away for myself. My thought was that even if I couldn't say a speech or say anything at the wedding reception, surely this would be something I could do in private. However, despite that I could have picked any couple in the entire universe, I picked Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo because they worked together in a marriage where they were not only husband and wife, but the closest critics they could be about each other's work.

To Claudia and Richard:

Tina Modotti says about the marriage of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: “I don't believe in marriage. No, I really don't. Let me be clear about that. I think at worst it's a hostile political act, a way for small-minded men to keep women in the house and out of the way, wrapped up in the guise of tradition and conservative religious nonsense. At best, it's a happy delusion — these two people who truly love each other and have no idea how truly miserable they're about to make each other. But, but, when two people know that, and they decide with eyes wide open to face each other and get married anyway, then I don't think it's conservative or delusional. I think it's radical and courageous and very romantic. To Diego and Frida.”

They may be one of the biggest couples on the planet, their love was a storm of fire and fury, but when they were married, when they were lovers, the only thing Frida would ever want from a man is loyalty. She knew of Diego's infidelity, she knew he would have a few skeletons in his closet, but she loved him anyway.

Marriage is a path that two people take. Sometimes it comes by very easy for some people who have been together for so long. Other times, it is a tug-of-war or a house split halfway down the middle to ensure that the relationship lasts. Marriage is an exchange of love, compromises, and happiness. It is not a right to liberty, but a union between two people who think of each other as half of their own skies.

I wish for these two, who are wedded today and have been wedded since, to make sure their beds never stay empty, their hearts never break, and their lives become one. There are so many challenges that lie ahead. But if you are able to hold each other high, then there is no limit to what you can do. Cherish each other, treat each day like it might be last time, the last fleeting moment, the last memory. Each marriage is special in its own right, no two couples are the same.

Richard, I know you have a lot of brushing up on your Spanish, but your wife will be a great teacher. Claudia, Richard is a free spirit who isn't afraid to do anything risky or stupid, make sure he gets some sort of creative outlet that maybe you might enjoy doing with him. Take this time as a couple to focus on what you want together and how you both will achieve it. The future is unpredictable. Moments like these, surrounded by family and friends, will not last forever.

Family and friends will come and go, but the one thing no one says about a married couple is that they are already a family. Enjoy yourselves, enjoy your time together, everything a couple has is already laid out for you. It is your job to water it and let it's petals bloom into a beautiful picture. Congrats you two and may your lives be filled with endless joy.