It was a sunny fall morning in Edmonton. The leaves were already turning all shades of red and yellow. Shuang and I, together with my sister and brother-in-law, arrived at a dated small cape belonging to an elderly couple we had yet to meet. The house was unremarkable in the modest neighborhood of similar houses with carefully tended yards and pastel-colored sidings. The four of us were in formal attire. Shuang, wearing a white dress shirt with bow tie and a black suit, was handsome and boyish. I had a simple long sleeve white lace dress, a matching pair of pumps, and was holding a small bouquet of flowers. The elderly gentleman ushered us to his basement office after greeting us at the door. His wife was in the kitchen preparing a meal. Shuang and I were a bit nervous, after all, it was an important day of our lives. The marriage commissioner briefed us through the process. Soon Shuang and I were standing side by side, taking turn reciting the marriage vow after him “…for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.” My young heart was too joyous to ponder the essence of these words. It would take me the next twenty years to gradually appreciate the magnitude of this solemn promise. The next step was the exchange of rings, two gold bands brought by my sister from Singapore the day before, with our names and 9/30/91 engraved on the insides. Then, with my sister and brother-in-law as witnesses, we signed the documents and sealed the ceremony with a kiss. Simple and private as could be!