Makes Your World Bigger

​On September 27th, Father Alfonse Nazzaro and I co-officiated Gracie and Blake’s wedding ceremony at the Dallas Arboretum, in the Alex Camp House in Dallas, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

If you ask Gracie and Blake when they first met, you’ll get two different answers, maybe a third if they keep thinking about it. Gracie says it was sometime in high school, since they grew up in the same neighborhood and had mutual friends. Blake isn’t so sure. We may never know for certain.

What we do know is that when they really got to know each other through the Silver Spurs Association in college, something clicked, even if at first only in the sense of friendship. Gracie says, “We had crossed paths before, but this was the first time we spent regular time together, initially just as friends.” Blake says, “Honestly, I always just thought of her as a friend… partly because she was out of my league.” (Blake, that’s called insight. Keep it.)

Gracie’s childhood revolved around her Catholic upbringing, Catholic school from kindergarten through high school, church every Sunday, Catholic camp in the summer. She says she’s “thankful for the values and structure it gave me.” At the same time, her first job at the Purple Cow diner opened her up to people “from all sorts of backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs” and “sparked a real interest in learning about different perspectives.”

Blake grew up steeped in Jewish tradition, Sunday school at Shearith Israel through his bar mitzvah, Jewish summer camp every summer. He says, “Growing up, I recognized early on the community that comes with religion, and that is where it had the biggest impact on me.”

From the outside, they might seem to have come from very different worlds. But when they started spending more time together, they realized how much they shared, especially, as Gracie puts it, “our outlook on life and shared interests.” 

Their first date was pure Austin: “Jazz at South Congress Hotel, pizza at Homeslice, and music at the Continental Club.” Their second was a Gary Clark Jr. concert, which launched a shared love of live music that continues to this day.

Blake says, “I simply didn’t know what true love was until I met Gracie… She’s never met a stranger, is always down for whatever crazy plans I come up with, and has everything you want in a wife.”

Gracie says, “Blake brings out the best in me, lights up every room, and shares my values… Even though we come from different places, our love has always brought us together and always will.”

What we can learn from them is this: You don’t have to have the same background to have the same vision for life. Curiosity about the world and about each other isn’t just a good way to grow up, it’s the best way to grow together. And sometimes the person you think of as “just a friend” turns out to be the person who makes your world bigger, your adventures richer, and your life immeasurably fuller.