I’ve read The Velveteen Rabbit a lot of times. Or rather, I’ve had it read to me a lot of times. But at Robina and John’s wedding, the pastor equated being “real” with being loved. Once you know real love, being hurt isn’t the worst thing. Once you are loved, you can’t go back to being unloved again… you’re always loved. It’s not always perfect or easy, but it is worth it.
“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’
‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’
‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’
‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
― The Velveteen Rabbit
I really enjoy all my brides and weddings. I always tell people that there is something wonderful about my job… getting to be there for peoples’ best moments. But I really felt a connection with Robina, like we’d been friends for a while even though she found me online!! And I so enjoyed watching her and her precious groom John! They are friends first, I think. Really enjoy each other and having fun together and each others friends and lives. I’m so happy for them and I’m so thankful that they included me in this gorgeous Birmingham Zoo wedding.
