This is the speech I delivered at our wedding reception - Mike, October 9, 2000

I want to thank you all for joining us and helping us to celebrate this most special day.

Please bear with me, I'm nervous, and have quite a story to tell...

I have been fortunate to have many good teachers in my life, not just in school, many of which I count as friends.

I want to share a story of some teachers, and the lessons I learned from them... and yes... it does pertain to today, and the reason you are here.

Noran and I actually went to Gavit High School, in Hammond, together. For what are obvious reasons, including her intellect, friendly nature, and warmth, I developed a HUGE crush on her. We had a great friendship, always talking science, walking home together. I was too shy to pursue things further.

In the intervening years I learned many things, from many people. I even took a course in Kabbalah, which teaches that life is a series of lessons, and that everyone around you is a teacher. This proved to be of great practical value to me, and helped my understanding of the world, and my personal growth.

Last Year, I received an Email which started...

We sent emails back and forth... and eventually agreed to meet for Dinner, to catch up on old times. The evening was magic, and lasted unto 2 AM. I was just amazed by how right everything felt, how much fun we had, and knew then that I was going to be very careful, because I didn't want to mess things up.

A few months later, a good friend, Mary Heitzinger gave me some COMPLETELY UNSOLICITED advice... which she had done in the past with very good results, so I listened intently... she said...

"Michael, Young men in your position, considering Marriage....

My jaw dropped... the idea had crossed my mind that very first night... but I knew I wanted to do things because they were right, not just on impulse

Then Mary continued...

"Should run from the idea as fast as possible..."

Which was a relief, because it was a direct solution, but I knew there was more....

She then finished....

"When you can't run anymore, then it's time"

So there it was, a pure, clear pearl of wisdom, which I was fortunate enough to grasp.

I was reading "Diary of an Early American Boy - Noah Blake, 1805", mostly because of the vivid descriptions of life in Early America, but it turns out that Noah had falling in love with a woman named Sarah.... one Sunday, he copied this verse from The Second Epistle of John, telling her not to open it until she got home:

"And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another"

He then spent anxious days waiting for the reply.... which came back "Ruth 1:16"... he asked his mother where the bible was so he could look it up.... but she already knew it....

"Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for wither goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: they people will be my people, and they God, my God"

It was at that point I realized several things:

and finally...

So here we are today, such Beauty you bring to me, Noran.... I can't express how lucky and loved you make me feel.

I love you!

Thanks to you, my friends and teachers, and to Mary Heitzinger for the advice that made it all so clear.

Thank you.