Jonathan and Katie, what a long way you’ve come. Who knew that an internet search from Tallahassee about the dating scene in Shanghai would lead to homemade Chinese food at Melody Lane and engagement parties in St. Petersburg. Now, you stand in Charleston, South Carolina, ready to enter into a sacred relationship. While tomorrow may look very similar to the past few years together, it will in fact be a new path, a holy path, you will tread together. And, to understand how life is a road and you want to keep going…. we have to go back to the beginning with you.

No, I’m not referring to speakeasies and singing about how “love is an open door”—I’m talking about the beginning of Genesis. There’s this line in the text about the first human being, which refers to all human beings—and we all need an ezer k’negdo.

The first word, ezer, is usually translated as “helper.” You’ve helped each other since the start. You have assisted in procuring lucky charms in China. You have supported each other up the fjords Norway and pacified the frustration of navigating a foreign pharmacy. You’ve helped each other see the benefits of preventative care and open communication. Continue to help each other—in your goals, in your growth, even in your games.

The second word, k’negdo, is notoriously tricky to translate. It means something like an “opposite that compliments”—sort of the yin to the other person’s yang. You two have proven that differences of habit and language are nothing if your aims are identical and your hearts are open. You have complemented one another, enduring across-the-world moves and arduous searches for employment. You have positively persisted, even when your partner protested, “NO. I WANT TO EAT MY CORN PUDDING.” Being an opposite, challenging your partner can enable you to reach new levels of SPLENDOR—but life is not always prestige points and peppermint patty schnapps.

In fact, life may bog you down with the everyday tasks, especially if you add little Hirsches (if there is such a thing) to the mix. So your challenge is to be the ezer k’negdo to one another. Not just a helper; not just a challenger. But be a true partner, an equal. True partners help each other get off the phone and come to bed—be the complement that helps get both of you a good night’s sleep. True partners take a fair share of the house chores—show your future children what it looks like for both parents to cook, clean, and walk the dog. True partners help pick each other up when they’re “running on red,” turning a bad day into something better, something at least “8% to victory.”

As you move into the future, we all look forward to seeing you continue to be ezer k’negdo to one another. We look forward to you, together, inviting us to be your guest for lavish dinner parties and even fancier board games. We look forward to hearing you geek out over the latest audiobook you listened to together on your monthly trip to a new spot. Most of all, we look forward to you creating a new family unit, equally exuding “instalove” to your children at your daily dining table ritual.

You are definitely ezer k’negdo to each other. We have no doubt you can ezer k’neg-do anything you set your minds to. For it’s plain as anyone can see, you’re simply meant to be.