Don't You Dare Treat My Rolls Royce Like A Tractor

I was in attendance at a wedding last Saturday and found the toast made by the father of the bride to be interesting enough to share in this blog post. There were multiple toasts given by many in the wedding party which included the bride’s father and now the groom’s new father-in-law. Everyone in  audience expected the usual pleasantries however that was not to be the case. The toast in and of itself was indeed pleasant but it contained volumes of wisdom. The proud father started his toast by saying “Let me tell you a story.” He pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket and he began reading a story about the value of a Rolls Royce and the rights of the maker and owner of such a fine vehicle. He read the attributes of a Rolls Royce and the expectation of how a car such as this is to be treated. As the story unfolded, the owner purchased the Rolls Royce from the maker of the vehicle and in the beginning cherished the car. Washed, simonized and detailed the car. Only brought her out in the best weather as she was garage kept. Pampered the Rolls Royce. He went on to say that over time the owner for some reason  began using the Rolls Royce as a tractor. More and more using it to break ground, pull a plow and other tractor duties. The Rolls Royce lost its shine and glamour; the motor began to run loudly; the tires became muddied and worn. When the maker of the Rolls Royce heard of the manner in which the valuable automobile that he made was being treated, he immediately rescinded the rights to the car from the owner and took the car back, restored it to its natural origin and placed it in the showroom for all to see.

The father and now father-in-law went on to use this analogy to let everyone in attendance know that his daughter was the Rolls Royce of which he was speaking and if she is even thought to be treated like a tractor, he would be taking back the rights to his Rolls Royce. It was a kind way to put his new son-in-law on notice in front of many witnesses (the same witnesses that had just seen them joined together before God) that he had better treat his daughter right. As a father of now four girls, I was with “dad” one hundred percent and thought to myself more fathers need to make this toast at their daughter’s wedding. In other words what "pop" was saying in his little story was “You’re not going to mess over my daughter.” The guests were silently stunned but understood where the father and now father-in-law was coming from. That was his daughter and he was not going to let anyone damage or harm her, not even and in particular her husband. Now don’t get me wrong, the same holds true for the female as well. Neither party is to damage the other. Marriage is no joke and if you see one that looks easy, you can best believe there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. The father and new father-in-law knew of what he was talking about as he has been married for forty nine years, the longest married couple in the building at the reception. Marriage is a beautiful thing, but it is work and everyone needs to understand that when it is undertaken. It’s one thing to spend all this money on that one “special day” and it’s another thing to make the marriage last.

It seems everywhere I look I see a blue $399 Divorce Center sign and that's not a good thing. As a divorcee I can speak first hand that divorce is not fun or a joke. It is painful and hurtful for all involved. People’s lives are impacted greatly as a result of divorce especially when children are involved, so please choose your mate wisely and whatever you do, do not begin treating your Rolls Royce like a tractor. More fathers need to make the toast this gentleman made and maybe the $399 Divorce Center would go out of business. Something to critically think about. As always I welcome your response in the comment section of the blog.