If you’ve ever lived in South Texas, you know that summertime is the harshest weather of the year. The high is almost always in the 90’s, and sometimes it’s over 100 degrees. I personally hate to sweat unless it’s in a workout context.

“Oh, we’re at the gym?” Bring it on. But “Wow, that was a long day of work, I’m going to walk from my office to my car for the next twenty feet…” Absolutely not. It should not take fifteen seconds to heavily perspire.

I miss New York summers. They were charming and cool, and they didn’t force you to act vampire-like for two and a half solid months.

This past summer brought me a pleasant surprise. Her name was Lexa. She was a design intern for the marketing company I work for, and she was the only girl within twenty years of me. She was spontaneous and adorable, and she made me long for my college years. Not to mention she designed the Wedshock logo for me.

Lexa would stop by my office in the mornings, and we’d chat about boys, careers, and life. Not only was she smart and moral, but she was ambitious. We shared stories and coffee, and I enjoyed every day.

One day we were at a precious cookie shop down the street. Lexa was telling me about the new guy in her life (an impressive one from what I heard), and she told me about a recent conversation she had had with an older woman about love.

The woman told her this about marriage, “Men pick a time, and women pick a man.”

Now whether you agree with this statement or not- this twenty-one year old girl was repeating this advice she received. Why? It was a woman she trusted who had been there before.

As young women, we crave guidance from an older generation. Yes, there are those twenty-year-old know-it-alls, but for the most part, the rest of us realize we don’t have this love thing figured out.

I dream of a time when women of all ages would discuss love and marriage around the preparation of a holiday meal or another task. Older women were respected and needed, and younger women had a place to ask their questions.

We need you. Young, newly married women need guidance, and Wedshock was created to link newlyweds to these more experienced women. We call them oldlyweds. Although the narrative looks a little different in 2013, it shares the same purpose: the passage of wisdom from one generation to another.

So here is my charge to Oldlyweds:

Speak up. We want to hear what you’ve learned over the last 5 (or 45) years of your marriage. Tell your stories, give advice, and offer wisdom.

Be honest. Our culture has already lied to us about the honeymoon phase, sex in marriage, and what a healthy relationship looks like. We’re tired of misrepresentations. Tell us what it’s all really like and what we should actually expect.

Remember you’re needed. You are so desperately needed. Some of these newlyweds don’t have mothers or sisters to answer their questions, and some of their questions are too personal to share with family.

So if you’re an oldlywed (married for at least three to five years) and looking to get involved, join the Wedshock community today.