Help Aleteia continue its mission by making a tax-deductible donation. In this way, Aleteia's future will be yours as well.
*Your donation is tax deductible!
When Halle Strieter and Thomas Randles got married recently, they decided to enlist the groom's pupils to help in the decoration. The result was not only adorable, but a huge reminder about the meaning of marriage.
Randles, who teaches fourth grade, asked his students to answer two questions: "What is love?" and "Why do people get married?" Their handwritten responses were then put in frames and placed in the center of the tables at the wedding venue.
The idea initially came from Randles' mother, who'd seen it elsewhere but thought it would be perfect for her son. And not only was it a brilliant way to keep costs down, but it was also something the bride and groom could keep forever.
Randles shared with Good Morning America what happened when he broached the idea with his pupils about lending a helping hand for his big day:
"They got very excited … so I was like, 'This is your way of helping me,' I introduced the two questions … and I said, 'I do not want to look at these responses. I want you to speak, write down what you think from your mind."
So, what is love?
While some responses were more heartfelt, such as: "When you look at a person and your heart goes fast and you're in love," others were more on the funny side, such as: "So they can get smoochey smoochey with each other."
The newlyweds are both in education: Strieter was inspired to go into special education having seen how instrumental the care her disabled sister had received, whereas Randles one-on-one experience in assisting a child with disabilities led him to go into teaching. As he explain:
"I fell in love with the fulfillment of just, like, every day putting a smile on a student's face, just teaching them one thing, whether it's how to tie their shoe or how to zip their jacketed."
Wanting love and connection
When reflecting on his pupil's responses, the bride shared:
"Children know a lot more than what you think they know," she said. "Even though they might not have the proper terminology or the perfect way of saying something, they feel the way everyone feels, and throughout their life, they've felt some form or people have showed them some form of love, and through their responses, you can tell that each child is loved, and it makes me so happy."
And as the groom pointed out:
"I find that they just want a connection. So, us getting married and them doing this for us, they just felt an instant connection, like they were a part of my life outside of school…. They just want to feel loved and the responses were just so innocent and adorable, it was just amazing."
What is particularly delightful about the responses is their simplicity. At a time when love and marriage has become overly-complicated, sometimes we need to strip things back and see the beauty in finding someone to love through the eyes of a child.
