Rain of Gold - first years of marriage

"Listen to me carefully," she continued. "Lupe is right; the first few years of any marriage should be lived alone. Your familia will still be your family, of course, but it can no longer be your first family. This is the miracle of marriage. Each new marriage is like a whole new beginning--a return to the Garden of Eden--and each new couple is Adam and Eve, the first two people on earth"

"I swear, Mama," said Salvador, laughing, "don't you think that you're being just a little too..."

"Too romantic? Too dramatic?" she snapped. "No! A thousand times no! You open your eyes and see what I'm saying or your marriage will not work. This life that you and Lupe are about to begin has only the value you place on it, not the value that the Church gives it, or what we, the parents, give it, or even society. Its value is what you two agree upon giving it. And given full value, marriage is then, indeed, a return to Eden, and you two are, indeed, the first man and woman on earth. Marriage isn't sex, mi hijito, and it isn't even having children. Sex and children can be had all life long without marriage."

He breathed deeply. His mother always had to make things so complicated. But then, on the other hand, that was probably how all his talk about money had sounded like to Domingo.

The old woman saw his confusion. "Give me your hand," she said. "Look, I'm not saying that you're going to stop loving me or that I'm going to stop loving you. No, I'm not only saying that our family will no longer be your first love. Both you and Lupe have to understand this or you won't be able to make a home. this is the very reason why Adam and Eve are considered the first two people on earth. They were the first to make a promise between themselves to join body and mind and give honor to the glory of God."

"You mean, they weren't the actual first two people on the earth?"

"No, of course, not, but for their tribe, they were the first two people who made this most profound of agreements between themselves, relinquishing the devil and giving honor to the greater glory of God." (478-479)