choosing love

"There is an attorney I know who always jokes 'I gave up Harvard for love,' but I really think it would sound even lamer to say 'I gave up love for Harvard.'"
-My friend Nancy Doig, on choices of the heart

Ah, the things we do for love.

I think Nancy's right. And Princess Sayako's story below appeals to the romantic in me. I guess the lesson here is to choose wisely, which isn't always easy in matters of the heart. I don't think it's as simple as using your head or your heart.

Japanese princess trades palace for apartment: With wedding to commoner, Sayako exits hereditary monarchy

Princess Sayako, the only daughter of Japan’s Emperor Akihito, wed a commoner in a private ceremony at a Tokyo hotel on Tuesday, losing her privileged status as a member of the imperial family.

Sayako, wearing a simple, full-length white silk dress and pearls, walked several steps behind groom Yoshiki Kuroda into a sparsely decorated room where the traditional Shinto ceremony was held.

The couple were greeted by a priest dressed in white silk robes. About 30 close relatives, including the emperor and empress, attended.

Rather than exchanging wedding rings, the half-hour ritual centered on the sipping of cups of sake rice wine.

Marriage to Kuroda, a 40-year-old urban planner, means Sayako, 36, relinquishes her title, swapping the grandeur of the Imperial Palace for an ordinary Tokyo apartment, and trading official duties for housework and the supermarket run.

She is the first daughter of an emperor to marry for 45 years.