Spring

A lily among thorns, that is what you are;

        a captivating beauty among women.

You have taken my heart hostage, my beloved, my bride;

        you have stolen it with one glance,

        captured it with a single strand of your hair.

How satisfying is your love, my beloved, my bride!

        Your love is more pleasing than the finest food,

        your friendship more fragrant than costly perfume!

Your lips taste sweet like honey off the comb, my bride;

        milk and honey are beneath your tongue.

The scent of your nearness is like the freshness of spring.

I have set you as a seal over my heart, my bride;

        I display your companionship as an emblem on my arm.

Our love is stronger than death,

        our togetherness, more relentless than the grave.

Our love flares up like a blazing fire, a very ardent flame.

        No amount of water can quench it;

        a raging flood cannot drown it out.

If all the wealth of the world were offered in exchange for our love,

        It would be utterly insufficient.

So arise my dearest, my beauty, my bride, my love,

        and come away with me.

The flowers are unfolding in the fields;

        the birds are warming up their songs.

Let us return to the spring of our love.

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Written for Tammy Doll by her husband, Brad, on the Occasion of our 23^rd Wedding Anniversary 6-22-14

MY ROSE

I once picked a rose and the sun shook my hand,

Crystal clear dew saluted from petallic stand,

Insects sang a harmonious tune: Farewell to the Setting Moon,

While birds lullabied, I . . . cried.

Tears of joy, I cried, of joy and sorrow,

Of past and present, of day and morrow.

Rare is the beauty which rouses them both.

The line which divides our deepest emotions need not be large,

Nay, but as the sand separates earth from oceans,

Rare is the beauty which rouses them both.

When I kiss my rose, I understand,

Why teardrops fall, what God has planned.

Together our minds are a harmonious tune,

And every moment, a honeymoon.

And listen, as I may, to love’s lullaby,

Of joy and sorrow, past and present, day and morrow,

I . . . cry.

Rare is the beauty which rouses them both.

Rare is your beauty, Tammy, my rose.

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Written for Tammy Doll by her husband, Brad

I Wish You My Kind of Success

"To be honest, in life, I have failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success." Jerry Maguire

When God sends you a soul mate, it's an amazing thing. That's what Tammy is. My soul mate. My best friend. My lover. The wife of my children. The heart of our home. Master chef. Photographer. Filmmaker. Graphic designer. Home decorator. Event planner. Volunteer. Lover of God. Church devotee. One who still honors her parents. Believer in dreams. Romantic. Never say die. Don't give up. My biggest champion. She is nothing less than the physical embodiment of everything that is meaningful and important to me. I thank God for sending her to me because I didn't know what it meant to live until I looked into her eyes on the altar of Franklin Baptist Church on June 22, 1991 and promised her that I would love and cherish her until the day I die.

Here's the cool thing I've learned since then. When you love your wife, it's easy to love your life. And when you love your wife and you love your life, you have discovered what it means to be truly successful. Turns out, Jerry Maguire was right.

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Written by Brad Doll