The Wedding: Doomed with a chance of Miracles

Well, a piece of the Apocalypse came to the wedding. Give me a few more (days, weeks, months) and I will consider it to be a grand thing. They are now calling it a Millennial Flood, something that only happens once in a 1,000 years. 

I had had this vision, though, of what the wedding would be. Of us standing together in the green of the park, in our beautiful silks, with crowns of ivy and flowers on our heads. We would be surrounded by so many of our closest friends and family who would bless and support us, and there would be sunshine making everything sparkle. 

Instead, there was a lush rain cascading down and we had a small ritual with a last-minute volunteer priestess held inside, with a little over a dozen of our nearest and dearest. It was a morning of panic that followed an entire day of increasing panic as we first changed to a drier venue, then canceled the festivities completely for fear of everyone's safety. 

Shortly after we canceled everything, the first miracle happened. My sister the chef (whom we had been desperately trying to reach by phone and were worried about) came charging in the back door under a little pink Dora the Explorer umbrella, clutching well-wrapped bundles to her chest. A few trips in and out of the rain, and then she shed her soaked hoodie and set to work assembling the cake anyway. And my gods, what a work of art! Four tiers of raspberry lemon dacquoise, piped with whipped cream, topped with fresh blackberries, carmelized lemon wheels, and fresh mint leaves. Also, a small army of from-scratch chocolate-covered cherry mice, complete with slivered almond ears.

The second miracle was my family. They live on the other side of town, and there did not seem to be any way for them to make it. And yet, as my other sister had come up with her boyfriend in his giant truck with a cab and a half, they decided to give it a go. As they had no power, I looked up the live Google traffic maps and made a couple of route suggestions, since the interstates were closed due to flooding. I know that when I called to check on them at one point, they were diverting into a Kroger parking lot to avoid water crossing the road. When I asked Dad about the trip, he replied in those understated tones that really meant, "It was harrowing." But they made it. And then my other sister popped back in with her whole family, so that all my immediate family was there, in addition to my household (there are 6 of us), my friend/former housemate/flower lady/priestess, a good friend and her baby who stayed with us for the floods, and a nearby friend/neighbor. 

The third miracle was a little thing, but not so little. I had been praying and sending intent and energy and affirmations and everything I had into having the rain stop around 1:00, in time for the wedding, just take a little break, I said, and I asked for a ray of sunshine. Just one little ray. When I figured out that the park was flooded and it was a lost cause on the weather, I pulled my intentions back and said, "Do what you will." There was a whole other line of storms slated to come through in the afternoon, but they never did. The rain slacked off in the early afternoon of the wedding and never really started again. And after our, well, wedding night that was really afternoon, I woke up to the whole world having turned golden. The sun was setting, and though it didn't break through the clouds, it was one of the most beautiful, magical golden glows ever, setting off the lush wet green of the trees. Luminous. Everything was luminous. And I knew--it was as close to my ray of sunshine as Goddess could give me.