A Wedding Between Two Hurricanes

As our plane dipped below the clouds, we coasted towards the Orlando airport. We glimpsed the bright green landscape below dotted with lakes and creeks, maybe filled with alligators and snakes, drifting clouds everywhere. The lull before the next storm I thought, as the plane braked hard on the runway. For months we’d planned to come to this family wedding with our Floridian relatives, but given that Hurricane Helene had just wreaked havoc up the West Coast of Florida the previous week, we almost backed out. And now there was another storm, Hurricane Milton, on the way.

It didn’t help allay my fears that as we taxied in, that I saw on my cousin’s Facebook page, the bride-to- be expressed worry about whether to order a tent for the wedding the next day, as the venue was outdoors and rain was possible. I almost responded to her post, something like ‘better safe than sorry’, but I held back. I didn’t want to be the random meddler imagining rain for her wedding day. I thought back to my own wedding during thunderstorm season in Maryland.

We deplaned, got to the car rental desks in the airport and it turned out, our rental company was off-site.
The car rental company didn’t answer the phone, instructions to find them were non-existent, and we didn’t have time to deal with them that night. So we walked over to Hertz and tried to rent from them. They didn’t have any cars they said because they’d all been deployed helping stranded hurricane victim on the Gulf Coast. But the agent winked and said he had a whole fleet of e-cars to rent. Our hearts leapt. This was our kind of car.

We laughed as we drove to our hotel in a beautiful white Polestar. But we were late to the night-before- party. It was at a bar where the husband-to-be was playing with his band. It was loud. It was punk rock. We were about to order a drink when my niece and her fiancé from Iowa showed up. We couldn’t hear ourselves talking over the racket inside so we decided to meet back at the hotel and have dinner. Such fun. Such kindred spirits.

Then the next morning another friend who lived in the hurricane zone canceled brunch as she was helping a neighbor who’d been flooded out of their house and lost their car. I assured her, that helping her friend was way more important than eating a meal with me. And despite my Florida cousins saying e-cars were evil and there was no charging infrastructure to be found, I found a charging station in downtown Orlando a block away from our hotel.

We were on a roll. One thing not working out makes room for something else. Let go and let God. Letting things go, banishing fear, forgiving oneself for having any misgivings, and believing in the abundance of the Universe opens the way for unexpected benefits. Unexpected experiences. Unexpected healing.

By then we were hearing ominous warnings about Hurricane Milton getting stronger in the Gulf, but our attention to that was allayed as a whole slew of family members showed up. My son and his wife, my sister and her husband, my sister in law. Time to party. So we all got dressed up and headed to the late afternoon wedding.

I hadn’t seen my cousin, the father of the bride, since our visit to Greece a couple of years ago. We just wanted to just be with him and his family on this special day. So we hugged and laughed and reminisced and all was good. And his own estranged sons, did likewise. Different but together. One family, one tribe.

Now to the weather. Despite being in the midst of hurricane season the weather held and turned out to be
delightful. Warm no wind, not a cloud in the sky. The band beckoned us to our seats and the procession began. Bridesmaids, best men, flower girls, parents. Light love and music filled the air throughout their
ceremony as their one-year-old toddler and older children from previous marriages walked up the aisle
nodding and waving to friends and family. The birds sang and the setting sun bathed us all in its golden light. Vows were said and rings were exchanged. Thank you spirit for holding a calm space for this sacred event.

The hidden gem in this whole experience was symbolized by those vows and rings exchanged between this darling couple, who found true romance despite some earlier life stumbles. Those rings symbolized all that binds us all together in love and life in our abundant universe, even though storms may come, both real and imagined. This couple had the heart, resilience, and faith to say yes, yes, yes to life, and the wisdom to bring their whole scattered tribe back together. Thank you for having us in your lives and knowing we are all in this together. And Spirit smiled brightly, so happy to be in this abundance of love.