I met Joe when I was 21 and he was 25. I had been raised in a fundamentalist Christian sect and had joined the Lutheran church at the age of 20; Joe was Jewish.

I met Joe through my close friend, and we 'clicked' immediately. That first night we talked for hours and reluctantly said good night because we both had work the next day. Two months later, Joe asked me to marry him! It was a whirlwind courtship and the fact that he was Jewish wasn't a big issue for me.

When he told his parents that he asked me to marry him, his father said 'I had always hoped you would marry a Jewish girl, Joe' to which his mother said 'Shut up John!' and that was the end of that! My parents loved Joe, so there was no problem on their end either.

However, then we had to decide where to get married--church or synagogue--and the issues started to come to the surface. Joe felt that his parents wouldn't come to the wedding if it was in a church. Since I knew my parents would come to my wedding no matter where it was, I felt that I should agree to marry in a synagogue. I spoke with my beloved pastor to see if he would perform a joint ceremony with a Rabbi and he flat-out refused--wouldn't even discuss it with me! I was deeply shaken by this.

Joe and I had also started to have discussions about our future children--would we raise them as Christians or Jews? At one point, Joe suggested that any girls could be raised Christian and any boys raised as Jews. After mulling that over for quite a while, I found it more and more disturbing. It just didn't sound like a family to me with 2 factions going their separate ways.

After much soul searching and a great deal of reading about Judaism, I decided to convert. My Hebrew name became Ruth, daughter of Israel, and I was reminded of the Biblical movie, "The Story of Ruth," which I had watched on TV as a young girl. The story seemed so romantic to me...'whither thou goest, I will go, where thou lodgest, I will lodge, thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God.'

We were married in a Jewish catering hall complete with its own chapel. When we planned the menu for the reception, the caterer suggested that since it was a mixed affair, why not substitute fruit cup for the gefilte fish, etc. etc. My father said 'Listen, I told everyone that this was going to be a big Jewish wedding and that's exactly what I want!' It is traditional that a mother who is marrying off her last child is crowned with flowers at the wedding--and since I was an only child, my mother was crowned!

Through the years, there have been differences of course. But with love, you learn to compromise. I found that although I practiced Judaism, it was impossible for me to give up Christmas. So each year we had a tree and decorations. Each Christmas eve we would sleep at my parents' house, and each Christmas day Joe's parents and sister would come for Christmas dinner. It has been that way for 27 years now.

We were blessed with two wonderful sons, Zak and Danny, who grew up with Christmas and Hanukkah gifts, Easter baskets and Passover seders. I joked to people that we celebrated every holiday on the calendar! Both boys celebrated their bar mitzvahs and are now 25 and 22. Our differences only added to our delight in each other and brought a richness to our lives.

Joe and I recently renewed our wedding vows while on a cruise and rededicated ourselves to each other. And the words that always return to me are .... whither thou goest, I will go.....