Accidental Bridesmaid

Since I recently wrote on the topic of marriage, I think it is time to share a classic story from the archives. Sit back, grab a warm drink, this is doozie.

March 2004
We arrived in the Middle East.

June 2004
We settled in our apartment and found a nice church to attend. One day (the day that will live in infamy) that seemed like a normal Sunday to us, we made our way to services.

I always sat in the back because my baby girl was, well, a baby. It was a small room, and anytime she decided to make her presence know, I slipped out the back door. The service was in Arabic, so I tried my hardest to pick out the hand full of words that I knew. Otherwise, I people watched.

Confession: I do a lot of people watching. Even in church. Don't judge me.

This particular day, I noticed a tall, young, nice looking American guy sitting with an Arab family. I was curious. I did what any other curious person would do. After the service ended, I walked up to him and said. "Are you an American?"

This started the adventure.

He explained he had just arrived from the States. He was a serviceman, was stationed in Iraq, fell in love with an Iraqi gal there, went back to the States, finished his duties, came back to get her out of Iraq, marry her and take her home.

A normal conversation you would have in the 'meet and greet' after church? See? People watching is FUN!

I thought he seemed a little flustered, lonely, etc, so I did what any nice motherly person would do and asked them if they wanted to have lunch with us.

He said he needed to talk to the pastor about their wedding arrangements, then would join us for lunch.

July 2004
We saw them quite a bit after that. They (and her father) were staying in an extended stay hotel right around the corner from our house. We had them over often, helped them when we could and just offered encouragement as they were wading through the paperwork of trying to get married so she could get her permission to move to the States.

They were really very sweet and cute. He could communicate a bit in Arabic, she a bit in English. You could see they loved each other deeply and had big hopes and dreams together.

August 2004
We received a phone call from them that everything was set. They were getting married that week and would love for us to come. He called a few days later and said:

Today is the day. The wedding is at 3 pm.

To Be Continued...