Love and Weddings in Times of Covid — Act I, The Setting
To travel or not to travel? Let’s not involve Shakespeare here. There was also a pandemic during the time he wrote Hamlet. But I digress or perhaps I shall not! This is also a Romeo and Juliet story without the Montagues and the Capulets. Instead, we have a COVID-19 preventing this union.
Here’s some background.
A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with high-grade ovarian cancer. I thought this was curtains let alone attending a wedding! Fortunately, a miracle happened and my final diagnosis was 1A with a 90% survival rate.
My son had been dating my daughter-in-law for 8 years, six months, 2 weeks, 4 days, and 3 hours! He finally proposed on a lovely summer morning in New York.
After my harrowing treatment, two extensive surgeries, and intense chemotherapy, I was ready for a bit of joy! It’s an exciting time when the happy couple shares their journey jostling between florists, dresses, vendors, and venues.
It was our dream! It kept both my husband and me going. That wish to see our kids happily married once and for all.
The wedding was scheduled for June 13, 2020 (thankfully not on a Friday) near Cancun in Quintana Roo, Mexico. The kids picked a quiet elegant resort hidden in the tropical jungle.
Then it happened! COVID-19!
At first, we hoped it would be long over by June. After all, we were still in March, so for sure, the virus will be good and done.
Then May crept in and so did panic.
Needless to mention this was a big financial investment so we had to scramble to do something. Canceling was not an option. After all, the US was the epicenter of this illness and Mexico was much less infected. The hotel would reschedule, no refund; so the wedding must go on! A couple of weeks before the wedding, my son was given an option for a new date. October, December, or wait 2 years as they were going to close for a major remodel. The latter was certainly not an option.
The long discussion began. Do we try to get our money back legally? Do we schedule in December? The decisions and choices were agonizing.
If you told me that the neighbor had to cancel his wedding, I would have told you “big deal as there were Americans that don’t have work or food!” — until it happens in your backyard. I felt for the “happy” couple, their dreams were shattered or at least postponed. It’s not that life was easy locked up in a teeny apartment in Manhattan with both their immediate families are in different states.
They opted for a December wedding! Again thinking, the virus will be under control by then as the world is investing millions of dollars in vaccines and cures.
NOT…
