Until recently, I would never consider using the word “progressive” to describe my good ol’ hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, “ultra conservative” is usually what comes to mind when I think about this town.
Growing up in Erie sometimes felt like being in a room with a ceiling that was so low you had to crouch to just fit in it.
If I tried to step out of the boundaries of what was considered normal or acceptable, I would be gently reminded by others around me that hitting the ceiling wasn’t an option.
However, I’ve learned that it really only does take one person to start a trend of ideas, that one person who says out loud what everyone’s thinking but too afraid to vocalize.
It isn’t easy being the one who steps up and speaks out, but unlike Sysiphus, the boulder doesn’t always fall back down.
Two of my good friends are taking on this challenge and representing a huge group of people who don’t always receive recognition, especially in Erie.
The radio station Star 104 hosts a contest every year called “Pick Your Perfect Couple,” and couples write in a 104 word or less entry about why they should be chosen to win a perfect wedding in 2011.
Then, couples are interviewed and ten are chosen to be in the running to win the wedding. The winner is selected by an online voting system on star104.com and every day a couple is eliminated by whoever had the least mount of votes for that day. Voting started at 12 a.m. Monday and by next Wednesday, my friends Amber and Ellen may be the winners of what is going to be the perfect 2011 wedding.
The two have been together for over two years and have one of the best relationships I have yet to be a witness to, with more than supportive friends and families.
They are that idealistic couple that are so cute to the point where it makes you bitter and jealous…or maybe that’s just me, but, we all know the couple that I’m talking about.
Both of them are beautiful individually, and together they make an incredible pair, definitely one to be admired, especially for how they seem to have perfected the art of finding unconditional happiness within each other.
I think that it is extremely important to support love for love, afterall, that’s what we all search for, fight for, cry over, laugh and smile about, and try to hold onto every day.
Our lives revolve around love, whether we sing about it or post sappy lyrics about it on Facebook, it’s always a part of us. Amber and Ellen deserve to have the wedding of their dreams, and we can help make that happen by voting for them at star104.com
