The Wedding Buddha (Storytelling Sunday)

{Sian of From High in the Sky hosts a gathering of storytellers on the first Sunday of each month. For 2013, she invites people to share stories of the precious keepsakes in their lives. I'm sharing a love story, a propos for February. To read other stories, click on this link.}

I was on the verge of coming into my own.  I had been at college for two years and was beginning to have a sense of who I was and what I wanted to be, even if I wasn't exactly sure how to get there.  And that summer, I met a wonderful couple named Kris and Vince.  They were a few years older than me and had clearly already crossed that threshold.  They seemed fully realized people - smart, funny, well-traveled, great conversationalists and very much in love.  I treasured the time we spent together and aspired to be like them some day.  At the end of the summer, they were married in the Berkeley Rose Garden.  I was particularly enthralled with one of their wedding gifts - a simple white, porcelain Buddha. It's beauty and serenity, as well as its exotic nature, enraptured me. 
Kris and Vince moved up to Seattle to start their life together, and we kept in touch with Christmas cards and the occasional lunch when travel plans brought us to the same city.  Four years later, I sent them an invitation to my wedding.  They were unable to attend, but a gift arrived from them - a distinctive green box from Gump's. When I opened it, my heart skipped a beat when I saw this beautiful white porcelain Buddha. The fact that they remembered my reaction and sent that very special gift spoke volumes about the people they were.  
Now, almost thirty years later,  I still have my Wedding Buddha. It sits peacefully in our bathroom and reminds me that I was only truly able to come into my own when I found someone to cross that threshold with.