QUOTE : And what is marriage, if not a higher level of friendship, a timeless and selfless partnership? It is the manifestation of love in its purest form. It is the joy of looking at your partner and knowing that there will never be another who could give you their life like this.” “Marriage,” Derek added with a warm smile, “is a gift. A promise that in good and in bad, in peace and in war, in sickness and in health, in happiness and in grief, you will be together. You will be there for one another. You will love and cherish one another. You will honor and protect one another. You will be one, for as long as you both shall live, and well beyond the veil of death. Your souls will forever be bound.