Would you want one? I’ll bet you would!
Earlier today I was watching the CBS Sunday Morning show. It featured a charming story about the folks who live on Llanddwyn Island, off the coast of Wale. They ditched St. Valentine and, instead, embrace St. Dwynwen’s Day. She’s the Welsh patron saint of lovers (she prayed for lovers everywhere to find the love she never got).
On this Welse holiday, instead of giving their sweeties chocolates and flowers, they give them spoons.
Spoons?? Seriously? Yes – but not just any spoons, but hand-carved spoons.
During the interview with Welsh woodcarver Kerry Thomas, a charming story unfolded.
Thomas carved his first spoon for his sweetie, thinking, he’d “learn how to carve to save myself having to buy an engagement ring!” It worked! Actually, I don’t know if he ever bought the ring, but she said “yes” and he’s been married to that woman since the 1970’s.
My favorite part was Thomas’ explanation of a detailed four-sided spoon, two smooth and two rough. Thomas said it represented “The rough and smooth of married life. So, it’s our wedding spoon…it’s not all going to be smooth, it’s not all going to be rough.”
That’s so true!
I don’t think any marriage, including mine, has smooth sailing. I learned that – big time – in my second marriage. The first marriage went along OK, with just some of the typical trials newlyweds face. However, in the second marriage, we hit the proverbial “wall” and it wasn’t so smooth.
That second marriage got my spouse and I into counseling. Counseling resulted in the creation of our “Family Meetings” habit. I’ve found that the Five-Year Marriage Family Meetings help smooth some of those rough spots. Joseph and I have had them as often as every week – when we have a lot going on, to keep us on track, or when we’re hitting a rough spot. Other times we’ve had Family meetings only as often as a few times a year, to keep our communication fresh. The couple years our mothers were in their dying process was one of those times. Since our focus was on them, and we were in constant communication with each other about their issues, we didn’t have a lot of other things going on.
If you want to learn about the Welsh tradition of spoons, take a look: CBS Sunday Morning
Want to know more about the Five-Year Marriage, check it out: FiveYearMarriage
#Valentine’sDay#Five-Year Marriage
