3 weddings (but no funeral :)

so .. recently i had the great gift of being able to be at a friend's wedding. it happened to be in turkey :) .. which means i also got to be in a new place and meet some new people and see new things and taste yummy new foods. after knowing my friend in college, it was wonderful to meet her parents and some friends, to be at her home, to spend time with her there. and also to meet her fiance (now husband) and his family.

as for the three weddings .. there was a legal one, a turkish one, and one in english. which meant there were also quite a few jokes about them being 'two-thirds married' and 'the third time you get married' and that sort of thing. one part of being there which was so encouraging was that we were all Family. so with all the things to be done, preparations to be made, setting up on the last day, preparing food for all the people there .. it all got done. an hour before the last wedding (which was outside at their house) i went to ask my friend's mom if there was anything else to be done, and she turned to me and said she couldn't think of anything. she went to check on one thing but that was it. what a gift .. so after people worked hard to prepare, the last hour before the wedding was about enjoying people, having good conversations, actually sitting down and taking a few breaths. a good gift from Dad.

i went expecting to watch the wedding from the audience. thursday night i asked my friend if i needed to be there for the rehearsal, and she turned to me with a sorta grin and said, "i guess i forgot to ask you... would you help serve communion at the wedding?" i gladly agreed, but we laughed together about that. then at the rehearsal, there was a song with an echo, and i knew it so was singing along with the man at the mic with his nice voice and guitar. oddly -- there was another microphone set up, but nobody singing. the song stopped and the groom said he was hoping somebody would sing the echo, and everybody turned around to look at me. so .. i ended up singing that song. and also the other ones that we sang at the wedding. very much a time of worship and celebration. and i certainly was involved!

and, of course .. there was dancing! i got to dance quite a bit .. a few swing dances (two with a guy who has had lots of practice and knows what he's doing!), some other random varieties, and even a sort of improved modern dance with my friend the bride. the people at the celebration exhibited some of the most freedom that i've seen in a long time in a community. like a big family .. so everybody danced, uncles and little kids and the bride and the groom and the cooks. good to see such freedom and real rejoicing.