The Last Will…

Yesterday afternoon Rachel and I went to see our solicitor to amend our wills…

Fifty-four years ago Dad led our wedding service. In front of family and friends he asked me: ‘Will you, have Rachel to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort and keep her, and forsaking all others remain true to her, as long as you both shall live?”

I replied: ‘I will.’

Rachel made an identical promise. Our married life started with ‘I will’.

A few years earlier The Hollies had sung:

I’ll be true to you yes I will
I won’t look twice
When the other girls go by
I’ll be true to you yes I will

More recently the Beatles had sung:

Who knows how long I’ve loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to, I will

Both ‘I Will’ songs describe the love, faithfulness and commitment that we promised that day…

Rachel was a nurse; I was a teacher. Throughout our working lives there was the unwritten, unspoken ‘I will’ promise of care and service.

Children ‘came along’. (It sounds as if they wandered past our house and we invited them in!) The ‘I will’ commitment to love, care, provide was constant. It still is.

We’ve always been part of a local church; the ‘I will’ commitment to a church family is foundational to Christian truth and daily living.

Sometimes ‘I will’ has been eager and cheerful. Sometimes it’s been through gritted teeth; it’s an act of the will. ‘I will’ has been with us throughout our lives.

So yesterday we were discussing our wills, using words that we don’t often use… executors, trustees and beneficiaries… purporting to… aforesaid… predeceasing… codicil… In making things clear and simple we become long-winded and complex.

Our married lives… starting with the loving ‘I will’, accompanied by The Hollies and The Beatles… continuing through our lives with the ‘I will’ of faithfulness, commitment and service… ending with our ‘last will and testament’.