Jacqui Lewis Instagram – John asked me to marry him on Valentine’s Day in 2005.
We had an intimate, sweet wedding @middlechurch. In my book, Fierce Love, I write about how full of love our wedding was: art-filled and full of a “rainbow tribe” of friends. As true as our love was, and as sure as I was that John was and always would be “my person,” my father chose to not come to our wedding because he disapproved of my marrying a white man, and a white man who was older than me at that.
Time doesn’t heal all wounds, truth does.
And rather than building resentment or pushing things under the rug, John bravely decided that we should travel to Chicago to see my father before our honeymoon- to understand whatever it was that made him feel like he could not accept us as a couple. To be honest. To tell the truth. Daddy & John talked. They shared life stories. They saw each other as humans. They eventually became friends.
I believe that all love is beautiful. Real love heals. Whether you are in a same-race relationship or an interracial relationship, there are challenges and gifts. Some of the challenges that John and I face are external (yup, in 2024 some people STILL don’t want to celebrate an interracial couple). And some are internal (We love one another but we are people with our “stuff.”)
John is my forever Valentine because he and I live our TRUTH together. Our love asks us to love bigger, deeper, more truthfully. Of all the choices I have made in life, John is my very best choice of all.
#ValentinesDay #LoveIsLove #InterracialMarriage #LovePeriod #BlackAllWays #AllWaysBlack #LovingvsVirginia | Posted on 14/Feb/2024 19:09:44
