Seven Years of Lovely LaJuan

Seven years ago this past Monday, I made one of the best decisions of my life: I got married to LaJuan. I don’t think I could have predicted then what our relationship would grow into, the ways she’s changed me for the better, how we would change each other. I’m continually astonished by this woman—astonished every day by her beauty, astonished by her empathy, astonished by her wit, which is so innovative in its profanity that it should be studied in poetry seminars.

We came together, as they say, “later in life.” But we’re still kids stoking fire in each other when we might have expected to settle for cooling embers. There is nothing cool about either of us (though we’re both cool). The feelings I expressed in my wedding vow to her, which I present to you below, have changed only insofar as they’ve grown stronger. Here’s to another seven years with Lovely LaJuan, and another, and another …

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Vows Spoken at the Wedding of Glenn Loury and LaJuan Sadler

Granduca Hotel, Houston, Texas
October 7, 2017

To My Dear Wife, LaJuan:

Here we are, darling—just you and I. Together, and at this very moment, we cross a threshold of profound significance, embarking upon an adventure, the full character of which we can now only dimly perceive. I stand in awe of this moment. I am staggered by it; shaken to my core; quickened; virtually overwhelmed.

Words cannot convey how grateful I am that you honor me so with your loving devotion. Here and now, LaJuan, you bestow upon me a gift so precious that I cannot resist seeing it as a divine blessing—a reflection of God's Grace. I am humbled by this gift of your love. How, I wonder, could I possibly be deserving of such a windfall?

No matter how one reckons the years, LaJuan, I am no longer a young man. Indeed, and soon enough, I will begin my eighth decade. Over the course of this long life I have been obliged to endure many slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. This has, not infrequently, caused me to despair.

And yet, here I stand with you at this alter today. This is, for me, irrefutable proof that to hope is not a fool's errand; that dreams can, indeed, come true; that despite many setbacks and shortcomings, in the end, the arc of this universe does, inexplicably, bend toward my happiness; and that, as the Scriptures teach us, no matter how darkened with tears may have been the night, joy cometh in the morning. Hallelujah!!

I love you, LaJuan Sadler, and I embrace you now as my wife and my life-partner. I look forward in the years ahead to being inspired and edified by your kindness, by your passion, by your fierce intelligence, discipline and determination, by the intensity of your moral commitments, by your curiosity about and your knowledge of the workings of our political world.

Baby, I delight in the thought of spending the remainder of my earthly days in loving communion with you—engaged with your sharp-witted mind; ravaging your gorgeous body; keeping pace with your restless, ever-questing spirit.

And therefore, this I promise you—before all here assembled and, I should like to think, in the presence of Almighty God:

I will always honor, cherish and care for you.

I will be faithful to you, never forsaking you for another.

In all things pertaining to our life together, I will see you and treat you as my equal.

I will share with you, without reservation, all that I have.

I will never take your loving devotion to me for granted.

And, in return, I will love you, and you alone, as my wife and my life partner—with all of my heart, my soul, and my mind—until death do us part.

Your loving husband, Glenn

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