A Witnessed Life

It is not uncommon for me to hear a statement pertaining to marriage and to think, “That is perfectly true about friendship, as well, if not more so.”

Without flooding anyone with examples (I have enough of them to drown an elephant), let me offer just one that I heard in a movie recently:

Why is it, do you think, that people get married? . . . Because we need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet. I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything – the good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things. All of it. All the time, every day. You’re saying, “Your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it. Your life will not go unwitnessed, because I will be your witness.” You can quote me on that, if you like.

So, give it a try. Where you read “marriage,” insert “friendship.” Where you see “get married,” say, “are friends.” Say it aloud. I suppose we don’t always promise to care in a friendship. Yet, with or without the promise, caring is the evidence that the friendship is worthy of its name, the proof that it actually exists.

Here is my rewrite:

Why is it, do you think, that people are friends? . . . Because we need a witness to our lives. There are a billion people on the planet. I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a friendship, you care about everything – the good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things. All of it. All the time, every day. You’re saying, “Your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it. Your life will not go unwitnessed, because I will be your witness.” You can quote me on that, if you like.

I know that the quotation would easily fall apart if we picked it to death, but there is one line that I refuse to alter – I just love it too much. Tell me, what would it be like to have someone look you in the eye and say,

Your life will not go unnoticed,
because I will notice it.
Your life will not go unwitnessed,
because I will be your witness.

Yes, you can quote me on that, if you like.

~End Quote