It has been an exciting two weeks for the Rispoli’s and this is why it has been a while since I posted. My Son graduated from Parris Island Marine Corps Basic training and was home for ten days. Anthony is 18 years old and has been talking about being a Marine ever since he could walk. He is what is called a legacy Marine. When Anthony graduated from Boot Camp he became a fourth generation Marine. I was already proud of the young man that he has become, but his carrying out the Marine Corps tradition in our family has been incredibly special.
While I was at Parris Island I took a picture of the door that Anthony walked through the day he arrived for recruit training. It is the same door that I walked through, my father walked through, and his father walked through. When Anthony arrived the bus stopped at yellow foot prints painted on the asphalt. He arrived under the cover of darkness, after midnight. His drill instructor explained to them that you only pass through this door one time. Above the door it reads, “Through these portals pass prospects for America’s finest fighting force United Stated Marines”.
The truth is no one ever goes through those doors again. Even the Commandant of the Marine Corp is forbidden to go through those hatches a second time. You do it one time and only one time. It is the pathway from becoming a civilian to becoming a United States Marine. And once you are a United States Marine, you are always a Marine. I love the image of having a door that you pass through one time and one time only. It is a great image for marriage. You walk through the door one time and one time only.
Above the doors it could say, “Through these portals pass two people making a lifetime commitment to one another, through good times and bad times, through better and worse, through sickness and health, for richer or for poorer till death do us part”. Like Anthony’s journey at Parris Island, it is not easy. But the legacy you leave for your children, your family and your friends by keeping your marriage together and honoring that commitment is a legacy like none other. We have an entire generation of people who are going to have regrets because they reached a fork in the road ~ and they took the easy way out.
What kind of legacy is your marriage leaving? Make a decision today that you are going to leave a lasting legacy with your marriage. Have the type of marriage that your children say, “That’s the kind of marriage I want someday!” Have the type of marriage that your friends say, “That’s the kind of marriage we want!” Have the type of marriage that leaves people positively talking and envious of the connection that you share with your spouse.