The wedding is off.

Dramatic, I know. But this whole ordeal seems just a little short of a full blown, four-act dramatic situation.

There are times in a person’s life when they contemplate the otherworldly forces that run the earth that we spin on at this very moment. Gravity. Fate. God. Karma. The devil, to name a few. A wedding, at first glance quite easy to plan, is one of those occasions wherein the process of coordinating one often considers that there might be some other force out there that is bound and determined to prohibit you from otherwise scheduled harmony.

While a few weeks back we received a letter from our church stating that our wedding was canceled, we solved the problem with flying colors. And in lieu of giving away our plans for I and my betrothed to marry, I’ll just say that our alternative suited us much better and we were thrilled that we could now move forward again in the planning process. Wedding books opened, pages flipped, discussions were had and every table that graced our house was a flurry of ideas. Consequently, I called the reception hall today to confirm our decided date.

Speak with manager about confirmation. He pulls out book. Much flipping of pages. “Okay. (more flipping, generous pause) The 31st. (again with the pause). Am I speaking to Lynn?” I hear across the phone. I clarify my name. “No, I’m sorry, I have that date reserved for Lynn and a deposit has already been taken.”

Awkward and tense, almost terse conversation ensues, rehashing several who-did-what-whens and who-spoke-about-what-with-whoms. I am informed that ‘they made every attempt to contact me over a period of a week’ and were unsuccessful. My only defense is that I did not receive a phone call, nor did I see their number on my caller id. He suggests that I might have been out of town. I rebut that it’s not possible, Mr. Manager, because-I-have-been-home-all-summer-because-I’ve-been-house-shopping-and-wedding-planning-and-those-things-don’t-allow-summer-travel. I question how this could happen and he replies that the woman I spoke with is now out on maternity leave.

It is times like these when one contemplates the forces of the world, the selfish why me's of the situation and whether they’ve wronged someone or something in the past that would cause them this misfortune. I understand this involuntary reaction to become in the infamous crazy bride, to unleash my wrath upon anyone that should wrong me and I resist. I refuse to give into that monster and instead, I’ll find another date.

posted by paula 12:55 PM