Lent, Love, and Las Vegas
Reflections On What Makes a Marriage Last
I didn’t appreciate how odd our courtship was until Virginia gave me up for Lent. We were both 16.
“I can’t see you for a while,” she told me on the phone.
“Why?” I said, alarmed.
“I’m giving you up for Lent.”
“Why?” I repeated.
“My mother recommended it,” she said. “You’re supposed to give up something you really like.”
To this day, I’m not sure Virginia’s motive was entirely religious. She may just have wanted a break. But, after 40 days of hellish separation, she was back in my life, and I in hers. Three …
