Today is a day to show love in marriages! The Birth of the Bab is a celebratory day for Baha'is, and today my father, my mother and I enjoyed hearing my cousin Jack's erudite talk about the history of heroism in the faith as seen through the writings of Shoghi Effendi. This has led me to think of the love the young Bab expressed for His wife, and the bright flame that was His short ministry.

Here, at left, is a picture taken last night of our friends Maury and Helen, who offered generous contributions to my book on marriage. At right, below, Bernie shares a tender moment with me, caught by my father during their 50th anniversary reunion celebrations in Saskatchewan in 2005. I like the knowledge of each other in both photos, the laughter, the feeling that Maury described in my book as follows:

"Really, when the chips were completely down and all reserves seemed exhausted, I would look into the face of my partner and see the burning beauty and fidelity, the memories there of all the most important doings in life that we shared and gave each other. I saw, under her sometimes shocked and tired life-worn surface the inexhaustible depths of her purity, love, and inner mystery, and with that came the turning point of enough hope and enough reason to believe that we could, if we just got past the stupid stuff, swim together again in those ancient, beautiful, and heady waters."