52 Ancestors
Prompt - Covid Wedding
June 27, 2020
As we
moved through the Covid 19 Pandemic, I was able to reflect on what is important
about family. Yes, we are all different as individuals and as family units, but
family is family. Despite all the
differences, we do miss each other after an extended period. Living in
isolation was difficult enough but to plan a wedding for the summer of 2020 was
challenging. That was just what my
husband's niece had to do.
After
plan A, plan B and plan C, our niece was able to marry her handsome Dutchman on
June 27, 2020, smack dab in the middle of the pandemic! With only her immediate
family they married and celebrated at the church. It was not the wedding the
bride had dreamed of having that summer. The bride insisted that a reception
would be held a year later in the summer of 2021 when they could celebrate
their marriage with extended family and friends. Little did the bride know that
this was just the event the extended family and friends needed after a
pandemic. It was an event where family came together and celebrated FAMILY!
It
really was a splendid idea! This bride is the youngest girl of six siblings and
had experienced all her siblings and many cousins’ weddings over the past 30
years. She knew the joy of family. She loved her parents, siblings, twelve
nieces and nephews and her many aunts, uncles and cousins and realized the
importance of celebrating her marriage with the man of her dreams with her family. This bride
knew that to share a meal and to dance with joyful music was important.
A
year later with more planning and adjusting this beautiful bride pulled off a
renewal of vows and a reception with all her family and friends. To experience
a family event that includes multi-generations of family and friends is a great
idea. As families we are spreading out
across the country and too often get isolated from one another. A family event
where 3-4 generations of family and friends engage was just what was needed
after being separated for 18 months. The joy of being together was a delightful
experience.
As
one of the older members of the family, I have attended many weddings of family
and friends over the past 70 some years. Many were big expensive weddings with
fancy dresses, big wedding cakes, and expensive flowers and meals. The pandemic
made many of us realize that this is not what is important. Weddings are about
sharing the love of the marriage and creating memories of family.
Our memories will be of the beautiful bride and groom looking at each other as they renew their vows in front of all their family and friends with the sweet sounds of family babies and small children in the background. We will all remember how warm and muggy the evening was as we shared a meal with the couple and then got out of our seats after the meal to find a breeze outside on a beautiful night in June to talk and visit with family and friends we had not seen in so long.
We will
remember the bride dancing with her husband of one year and then dancing with
her father who looked so proud of his daughter. The bride doing the traditional
polka with her family, the line dancing, the groom and his friends getting down
to the music and the bride dancing with her beloved nieces, nephews and little
cousins who looked at her in full adoration. And the couples dance, that the
bride insisted had to be done, to discover the couple who had been married the
longest.
Any
event that pulls family together is a great idea. This bride did just that. She
persisted to celebrate with as many family members and friends as possible.
Intergenerational events are not as common as they use to be and to see the
bride's newest niece born less than two weeks ago along with many mothers with
their preschoolers entertained by playing in the icy water in the ice chest to
seniors maneuvering their walkers was an amazing event. The bride and groom
celebrated a year of marriage with family.
Congratulations
to the beautiful bride and her very handsome Dutchman! It was well worth all
her hard work and persistence. God has a way of putting hurdles in front of us
and as we struggle to get over them, we realize what is important in life.
Faith - Hope - Love…But the greatest of these is LOVE!
I Corinthians 13
