At night, there was the feeling that we had come home, feeling no longer alone, waking in the night to find the other one there, and not gone away; all other things were unreal. We slept when we were tired and if we woke the other one woke too so one was not alone. Often a man wishes to be alone and a woman wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. We were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.

Humans have never understood the power of Love, for if they had they would surely have built noble temples and altars and offered solemn sacrifices; but this is not done, and most certainly ought to be done, since Love is our best friend, our helper, and the healer of the ills which prevent us from being happy.

To understand the power of Love, we must understand that our original human nature was not like it is now, but different. Human beings each had two sets of arms, two sets of legs, and two faces looking in opposite directions. There were three sexes then: one comprised of two men called the children of the Sun, one made of two women called the children of the Earth, and a third made of a man and a woman, called the children of the Moon. Due to the power and might of these original humans, the Gods began to fear that their reign might be threatened. They sought for a way to end the humans' insolence without destroying them.

It was at this point that Zeus divided the humans in half. After the division the two parts of each desiring their other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one. So ancient is the desire of one another which is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of humankind.

Each of us when separated, having one side only, is but the indenture of a person, and we are always looking for our other half. ... And when one of us meets our other half, we are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and would not be out of the other's sight even for a moment. We pass our whole lives together, desiring that we should be melted into one, to spend our lives as one person instead of two, and so that after our death there will be one departed soul instead of two; this is the very expression of our ancient need. And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called Love.

Courtney: for most of my life, I thought I'd never want to marry. I couldn't trust people, and I walled myself off from the rest of the world. You cracked that wall the first time we met, and after our first week together, it no longer existed. I knew you were the one for me from out first date. And then later, when we actually got to know each other, I realized that I really could trust you; you truly understand me, and yet somehow you still think I'm the best. Courtney, you make me the best – just look at how much I've changed over the past couple of years. I went from not wanting anybody to caring much more about you than I care about myself. Love, creativity, compassion, thoughtfulness, patience, selflessness—you bring all these qualities out in me. You've given me so much, and I promise to always protect and support you in turn. I'm committed to always talking to you, to working through life, our relationship, and myself with you. And since I know you've made that same commitment, I know that I'm free to love you completely, with my whole self, for the rest of my life. I will never give up on us. I will always be here, at your side.

The first time I saw you, I knew that you were someone special. I couldn't stop thinking of you, wondering when I'd see you again, how to contrive to talk to you next. You were my all-consuming passion, even before we really knew each other. And yet now, after effortlessly entering my heart and taking inventory, after understanding me better than I do, you still love me! And despite knowing each other so well, I believe we will always be a slight mystery to one another—always the other's all consuming passion. You continue to surpass my ideal of the perfect mate; the reality of you is far superior to any fiction I could dream up. And hence so too is the reality of us. We can cook together, dance together, cry together, argue. We can spend hours talking about anything, without ever feeling stale. You are the major miracle of my life. You open me to possibilities that I never thought existed. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you—cooking, dancing, crying, arguing, talking, and growing. Timothy Gabriel Kallman, I joyously and solemnly vow to love you always, through the best, the worst, and the mundane. I vow to work on life with you, to help you achieve your dreams, to appreciate, to honor, and to respect you. I vow to talk, to listen, and even, occasionally, to obey.