Wedding bells

Despite the personal miseries of cancer treatment, life goes on – thank goodness – and there are times when the joy of an event helps one to forget every unpleasantness. Such was Tunde's wedding to Zabrina yesterday.

There's nothing unusual in a pair of love birds saying their vows beside the family pool, but not many mothers listen in by phone and shed the wedding tears 10,000 miles from that body of water. Who said there's anything usual about me and my family?

Tunde told me in November, when he came to see what this cancer thing was doing to me, that Zabrina is the one and he is seriously thinking about proposing soon. I gave him my parents' wedding ring as a keepsake, perhaps to use symbolically, as I did with his father.

The proposal was accepted on Christmas day and they moved together a couple of months ago. Tunde had an instant family with Zabrina and her two children, Jerrel (8) and Nikeya (13). A few weeks ago they decided to fast forward the wedding, but since I can't fly while I have radiation treatment, the event would take place in two parts: wedding on Saturday, April 7 and the reception when I visit in August.

So, yesterday morning I was woken by my brother at 5:50am, saying that he wants to try and get a Skype connection. Of course I was unfit to do anything at such an unearthly hour, so we tried it around 8am. The wedding was scheduled for 7:30pm Saturday at their time, which was Sunday 9:30am at my end.

While it was a good idea, the Skype thing didn't work, and the solution was that Stephan stood next to the celebrant with his mobile (cell) phone in his pocket so I could hear every word at my end clear enough to record!

The celebrant was my niece Judy's husband Frank, who read beatifully. The first toast was something I found on the Internet, called the Irish Blessing. I just think it's really special, and Frank read it just as I would have. Thanks Frank! And thanks Judy and Stephan for making all this possible!

Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.