Amicus Verus True Friend

7:00 PM: Doors Open. {Setup. The Gathering will take place in the house and the ceremony will take place in the back yard. The gathering table will be in the dinning room against the south wall and the liquor table will be the buffet. Fun-Friends cards will be all over. Ceremony area will have David and Rob in the West, Friends in the East and the ceremony table in the South. No large item should separate the East from the West. A podium will be in the West for the bell and a laptop as a prompter. Guest will retrieve and pass the wine to each other as the ceremony requires. There will be a trash receptacle in easy access for everyone under the table or in the midst of the crowd for tossing. Candles and oil lamps are lit and wine glasses laid out according to table chart.}

8:30 to 8:45 PM: Begin directing friends to ceremony area. Verify attendance count and fill any additional wine glasses accordingly. {Rob leads friends to wash hands in this portion of the ceremony and gather in the East. Someone will be in charge of any late friends.} 9:00 PM: Ceremony begins. {Nine bells for nine years at the nine oclock hour.}

Dear friends, We address you as such for this is a gathering of friends to observer, witness and participate in a ceremony of true friendship which we shall call Amicus Verus: the Latin phrase for true friend.

We stand before you in the West, emblematic of the end of lifes journey addressing you who are in the East, emblematic of the beginning of lifes journey. Thus, we are at the end of our journey reflecting up those joyous memories of friends.

In our reflecting and hindsight, we see the many paths which our lives have taken and crossed. In doing so, we realize that few paths we can choose and many are by fate.

We now stand at this unique moment in time were we celebrate the true friendship of David and Robert that has existed and grown for nine years since our paths and fates have brought us together.

For when they crossed, we were just two individuals with no idea of the road upon which we would travel for so long, building our camaraderie and fellowship until we would become passionate and intimate true friends.

Now, we should remind you about three forms of love. Not to be judgmental or crass about these forms, but to more rightly divide them for our purposes.

Agapè. This is divine and unconditional love existing purely for the sake of being. That love that existed with our heavenly father even before we born or the foundations of earth were formed. That natural love that exists within family and among humankind without concern for difference.

Felios. That love which is the foundation of fidelity and comradeship. The love between comrades in arms, of fellowship or brotherhood and nationalism. The love that forms the strong bonds between people that have fought and survived the extreme and tragic together. The love that allows us to be Semper Fidelis.

Eros. A love that is the root of erotic and worldly pleasures. The love of material, physical and sexual things. A worldly love that forms our desires for physical touch, lust and contact with others as well as our needs for possession and property.

Now that we have reminded you of these forms, may we impress upon you that our celebration is of agape felios. It is this enduring love upon which we celebrate our friendship and which forms the mortar of our years.

This is most important and critical. For any master architect knows without proper mortar, no edifice will stand the test of time. Simple storms and winds will easily erode the structure to collapse and destroy those that dwell therein.

Now, we should remind you that any relationship is comprised of three elements: sorrows, commons, and joys. It is in this remembrance that we have brought you three wines.

Please take and pass the dark wine among ourselves. {Pass out the glasses of Bitter Red Wines. When all have their wine, proceed.}

This bitter wine is to remind us of the sorrows that are a part of any relationship. Sorrow that is necessary to test and strengthen our relationship to grow past the lazy and accepted routines that stagnate our love and care. Those elements that contrast and remind us what our joys are. For without bitter challenges, there is no joy for the sweet growth. Please join us in this remembrance.

{David and Rob lead the group to raise their glasses and then drink the wine. Everyone tosses their empty glasses into a round container in the midst} Please take and pass the white wine among ourselves. {Pass out the glasses of Bland White Wines. When all have their wine, proceed.}

This bland wine is to remind us of the common mundane routines that are taken for granted in any relationship. Those simple things that are part of the daily routine and all so often are forgotten or ignored as just a matter of fact. The daily chores that any partner performs thousands if not countless times a year by the mere fact of just being there. Please join us in this remembrance.

{David and Rob lead the group to raise their glasses and then drink the wine. Everyone tosses their empty glasses into a round container in the midst} Please take and pass the cherry wine among ourselves. {Pass out the glasses of Sweet Cherry Wines. When all have their wine, proceed.}

This sweet wine is to remind us of the joys that bring the sunshine and smiles into our lives. Those sweet moments and actions that remind us how special we are to each other and among all of Gods creation. The reasons upon which we bind our union and continuous companionship. Please join us in this remembrance.

{David and Rob lead the group to raise their glasses and then drink the wine. Everyone tosses their empty glasses into a round container in the midst} Now that we have set the foundation for our ceremony, we will personally commemorate it with that long held emblematic trinket, an exchange of rings that represent our friendship and what it means to us.

Regardless of the adornment of the ring, it is considered a trivial trinket of the ceremony. However, because of its emblematic meaning, we will briefly note its symbolism.

{David and Rob will face each other at this point as David describes the meaning of the ring} As in all ring ceremonies, the ring itself being a complete circle without beginning or end is emblematic of our perpetual love and care for each other.

The inscription underneath the ring is Amicus Verus, which is the foundation upon which we recognize and perpetually build our relationship.

The two triangles with three diamonds represent us, the two individuals bond by our friendship on this journey through live. The element of three is emblematic of many things: the Holy Trinity; past, present and future; three forms of love; the elements of relationships; and the physical, spiritual and mental selves.

The smooth and graceful joining of our zodiacs between our two triangles represents our unification. An opportunity made possible through divine fate and solidified by our free will and accord.