Cherry Blossoms

Upstairs Downstairs (Songs from my Memoir) 4:54

Lyrics

I promise to continue living with youJust as I have for the past eighteen yearsI’ll keep up the brisk pace walking beside youAnd looking forward to the future as your wife

I promise to love you till all the cherry blossoms fallI promise to hold you till all the cherry blossoms fallI promise I’ll be with you; I’m going to love youI’m going to hold you till all the cherry blossoms fall

I promise to continue living life with youJust as I have for the past eighteen yearsI will take good care of you on every levelI’m so looking forward to my future with you as your man

In the glow of dusk our love stands tallSilent whispers under cherry blossoms fallEternal promise, softly spokenOur hearts entwined, never broken

We promise to love until all the cherry blossoms fallOur love stands strong as decades recallTogether forever. I promise I will be with youI promise to love and hold you till all the cherry blossoms fallTill all the cherry blossoms have fallen

Story

We got married on the beach after Living Apart Together for 18 years. I rushed toward him, so eager to get married that I nearly broke the old tradition of not kissing him right then and there. From an Excel spreadsheet proposal to standing here, the journey felt surreal. We said our vows, married at last – the beginning of an even better life, together but still Living Apart.

Our vows in Afrikaans:

Aan my toekomstige man: Ek belowe om aan te hou om uitbundig saam met jou te leef soos die afgelope agtien jaar. Ek sal aanhou om op ’n drafstap by jou te bly. Ek sien uit na die toekoms as jou vrou Karina Marais. En ek beloof om jou lief te hê tot al die kersiebloeisels val.

Van my man: Ek beloof om saam met jou ten volle te leef soos die afgelope agtien jaar. Ek beloof om vir jou te sorg op alle vlakke en altyd na jou te kyk. Ek sien uit na ons toekoms saam en om jou man te wees. Ek beloof om jou lief te hê tot al die kersiebloeisels val.

From Lyrics Explained