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"Our officiants asked us to include a bible reading in our ceremony, so we had the standard 1 Corinthians 13:4 (the &amp;amp;#8220;Love is patient, love is kind&amp;amp;#8221; passage that&amp;amp;#8217;s featured in &amp;amp;#8220;Wedding Crashers&amp;amp;#8221;). My little sister did a separate reading, and you may not believe what we chose. So the back story: I was a nursery school teacher in college, and most days at nap time, we&amp;amp;#8217;d listen to a book on tape. One day, the head teacher played The Velveteen Rabbit. This one part of the story really touched me. Quick excerpt: &amp;quot;What is REAL?&amp;quot; asked the Rabbit one day. &amp;quot;Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Real isn&amp;#x27;t how you are made,&amp;quot; said the Skin Horse. &amp;quot;It&amp;#x27;s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Does it hurt?&amp;quot; asked the Rabbit. &amp;quot;Sometimes,&amp;quot; said the Skin Horse. &amp;quot;When you are Real you don&amp;#x27;t mind being hurt.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,&amp;quot; he asked, &amp;quot;or bit by bit?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;It doesn&amp;#x27;t happen all at once,&amp;quot; said the Skin Horse. &amp;quot;You become. It takes a long time. That&amp;#x27;s why it doesn&amp;#x27;t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don&amp;#x27;t matter at all, because once you are Real you can&amp;#x27;t be ugly, except to people who don&amp;#x27;t understand.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I suppose you are real,&amp;quot; said the Rabbit. The Skin Horse smiled. &amp;quot;The Boy&amp;#x27;s Uncle made me Real,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;That was a great many years ago, but once you are Real you can&amp;#x27;t become unreal again. It lasts for always.&amp;quot; I totally teared up when I heard this! The kids who were still awake around me were a little freaked out to see a teacher crying, but I told them that the words were so beautiful it made me cry happy tears. And I vowed to somehow use the passage in my wedding because it&amp;#x27;s such a perfect metaphor for love and marriage. So when Paul and I were figuring out the details of our ceremony, he was completely on board with my selection. And since Gillian, who&amp;amp;#8217;s six years younger than me and Paul, knows Paul since she was just 7 years old, we thought it was fitting that she read something from children&amp;amp;#8217;s literature. Gillian did great justice to the passage (I admit; I had her practice for me). And our rabbi was so happy we chose that reading. A few guests remarked that they liked it, too! What do you think of this excerpt? Are you including any non-traditional readings in your ceremony? What&amp;amp;#8217;s the most memorable reading you&amp;amp;#8217;ve heard at a wedding? More About Ceremonies My Big Wedding Ceremony Surprise When It&amp;amp;#8217;s OK to Skip the Ceremony (but Still Party at the Reception) Would You Write Your Own Wedding Vows? More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage Photo: Gail Chatelain "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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