Words From a Brady Heart

BO AND HOPE'S WEDDING POEM--1985

True love is the gift which God has given,

To man alone beneath the heavens,

The silver link, the silver tie,

Which heart to heart and mind to mind,

In body and in soul can bind.

{The significance of this peom is that it was from a book Shawn gave Hope on her 18th birthday. It's a poem he used to read to Caroline.}

BO AND HOPE'S WEDDING VOWS {1985}

Bo: Hope, I know it's taken us a long time to get here. We even thought at times that we wouldn't. I know I had my doubts. I never thought I could have someone in my life that could make me so happy or make me feel so alive. You know how hard it is for me to tell people how I feel about them, especially people I care about. But today in front of all these people, I have no problem telling you that I love you. I know our lives aren't going to be sunshine and roses from here on in, but I'm going to try my hardest to keep our love alive. We've got something very special here. It's worth fighting for. I love you Hope.

Hope: Oh, Bo, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you but it's taken all that time to realize that what I felt then is nothing compared to what I feel now. Remember what we said to each other in New Orleans- "True love is the gift which God hath given to man alone beneath the heavens. The single link, the single tie, in heart to heart, in body and in soul can bind'. I was pretty young when I met you and I's get so mad when you'd call me "Little One". But knowing you and loving you has made me a woman and I am your woman Bo. Standing her in front of all these people, I give you my life and all my love through all eternity. Oh, Bo I love you and I'm so proud to be your wife.

PRE WEDDING VOWS {1996}

These were said by Hope and Bo before their 1996 wedding. They decided to say them privately, while toasting with champagne.

BO: Fancy Face, I have loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you...back when we were kids. I loved you. We played, we loved, we fought, we made up, we fought, and we made up again and again and again, and I wouldn't have it any other way. You were my first love...and I know you'll be my last. Hope Williams Brady, I promise to love you, to cherish you, to respect you and protect you for all the days of our lives.

HOPE: Bo Brady, I promise to always love, honor, cherish, respect, and protect you too...to share my life with you and build our future together for ourselves and for our family. I've never loved anyone but you and I know I never will.

HOPE'S LETTER TO BO ON THEIR WEDDING DAY

Dear Bo,

I'm writing this letter to you on the morning of our wedding. I'm going to put it away in a special place, and one day, years from now, I'll show it to you. Gran gave me the idea. She wrote a letter to grandpa on their wedding day. She wrote all of her feelings, her hopes, and dreams, so that one day they could look back and remember how their life together began. I want us to do that too. As I write, I'm looking into the future, to that day when you finally read this. What will we be like? How will we feel when that day finally arrives? I'll be leaving for the church in a little while. I'll take your hand and pledge my love to you for all eternity. I'm so excited, so happy. And yes, a little frightened. But mostly I'm filled with this incredible emotion that wells up inside me. It overflows and reaches every part of me, giving me such joy, such happiness. It's such a wonderful emotion...I'm not sure what to call it. A little word like love doesn't seem big enough to describe it. But I guess there is no other word. So in the end I'm right back where I started...with no word to truly express the depth of my love, the joy of my emotion, the certainty of my commitment. I just want you to know that on this day, and every day thereafter, I will thank God for you. And I will love you from the bottom of my heart, from the depths of my soul, forever.

Love, Hope

HOPE'S MESSAGE TO BO THE NIGHT BEFORE THEIR 1996 WEDDING

BO: Hello. I'm not here. I'm busy getting ready to marry the most incredibly beautiful woman on the planet, so leave that message. [Answering machine beeps.]

HOPE: Hey you! Where are you? I cannot believe that message you just left. You're crazy you know that? But I love you. Ooh, I love you. And I miss you and... Oh, Bo...I cannot wait to stand at that alter tomorrow and exchange our wedding vows in front of everybody---God, our family, our friends. Oh, wait a minute, we've already done that haven't we? So I suppose I should say...renew our vows. That's what I'm going to do. I want to renew my commitment to our love and to the wonderful life I know we're going to have. I just want you to know how much I love you. I do.

HOPE'S DIARY ENTRY

She read this to Bo, when he asked if she still loved him

Bo, Sean D. and I are going skiing. I was so happy when Bo suggested it. Maybe it could be a new beginning for us, a chance to get back the love that we once shared. Or is it too late? I don't know. All I do know is that I love him. I love him with all my heart and I always will, and I can only pray that one day, he'll love me again.

HOPE'S GOODBYE SPEECH TO BO {1990}

{In Ernesto's cage.}

Hope: "Bo, just listen to me, okay. I want you to...I want you to tell Shawn-Douglas..."

Bo: "It's okay, Fancy Face, I'm listening."

Hope: "I want you to tell Shawn-Douglas that his mommy loves him."

Bo: "Okay. I'll tell our little sailor you love him."

Hope: "You know how much you mean to me? How much you both mean to me?"

Bo: "Yeah, Fancy Face. I know."

Hope: "I've never really told you...(sobs) Oh, God. I've never really told you how happy you've made me. God you have, Bo. I know the last few months...I know they haven't been great, but I don't want you to ever think even for a second that I was ever disappointed because I wasn't. Oh, Bo, I love you. Loving you was the greatest joy of my life. The greatest joy, Bo."

Bo: "You are my life, Fancy Face."

Hope: "Bo...."

BO'S POEM TO HOPE {1996}

She looks at the world

through eyes of kindness

Her hair glistens with the brilliant glow of stars

Her face reflecting certainty and

expectation

Faith and hope turns always to the light.

And her lips touch our souls with kisses

too sweet to remember without tears of joy

She stands cloaked in warmth and tenderness

and mystery

She is love, precious love

to the fortunate she comes once,

but never again

so guard her with every strength in you

never let her go.

BO'S MEMORIAL TO HOPE

"I finally agreed to a memorial service for Hope. I still can't believe that she's gone. To be so close to having her back and then to have her taken away . . . the pain is almost unbearable. The first time I lost her was hard enough but this time . . . this time is much worse. I should have been there for her. If I'd just told her that-that I love her, she might not have gone up on that mountain to ski, or at least we would have been there together and I could have been there with her. Now I've lost her and I'll never be able to forgive myself."

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