If marriage was anything like my parents’ relationship, I didn’t want any part of it. So, as a young woman, I decided I would never get married.
Then I met Brian Bercht — and immediately re-evaluated that decision.
We had a whirlwind romance and were married five weeks after the day we met. Today we don’t recommend others move as fast as we did, but we have no regrets. Because of the distance between Texas and Canada, where we respectively lived, and our commitment to refrain from sexual intimacy before marriage, we were counseled to get married right away. Our parents gave their blessing.
Imagine phoning your father at the age of 20: “Yeah Dad, there’s this guy who came down to Texas from Canada on a motorcycle and I want to marry him!”
Two things set the foundation for everything that followed. First, we made a real commitment to each other that we were both determined to keep. Second, we made that commitment before engaging in sexual intimacy. Brian told me: “You’re far too valuable of a woman for me to sleep with before I’ve made a promise to be true to you and take care of you for a lifetime.” My heart melted.
And so began our adventure. If we could have seen the future that lay before us, I suppose we would have been too frightened to start. Or we would have tried to take a shortcut — and missed out on the blessings the universe holds for all of us when we determine to live our lives with integrity. No matter what. Simply never, ever quitting.
Life often seems to lead us on a zigzagged path, rather than straight to the goal. But I am convinced that each detour holds a lesson uniquely designed to prepare us for our greater destiny — if we are only courageous enough to learn through it.
As the saying goes, “Joy comes in the journey, not just in the final destination.” Where we come from isn’t nearly as important as where we’re going.
Who could have ever guessed that we would one day be known as affair recovery specialists, Brian and Anne Bercht?
— Anne Bercht