Way back in the summer of 2001 my sister finally married her longtime boyfriend Ryan. They had been together, I don't know, seven years? The previous summer she had given birth to my first nephew Jakob. So why get married now? My grandparents were visiting us in the states. By golly, my sister had Oma and Opa in the country and this was the only opportunity she would ever have to have them at her wedding.
Summers
in Germany can get pretty warm. They get up to the mid 90's on
occasion. My Oma hadn't been to Texas since the early 80's, my Opa
had never been to the states at all. They had never known 100 degree
days. Texas is something else. Besides unbearable heat, the roads
are shoddily patched asphalt, the buildings aren't hundreds of years
old, people drink water out of the faucet, grilling is a way of life,
and Dr. Pepper is a thing. Night and day different from Europe.
Oma
spent quality time with her great-grandson. Opa enjoyed
conversing with those that had no idea what he was saying. They
stayed in my old room in my old bed. I was in college and at this
point I didn't take summer courses. This meant I wasn't living on
campus. I commuted to my job at the movie theater and stayed at home.
My brother got his room, I got the storage building in the back
yard. There was a twin bed set up. I had a mini-fridge and a box
fan. My own little one-room guest house. It was pretty miserable.
My
sister had a nice wedding ceremony at a small church in Telephone,
Texas followed by a reception in my parent's back yard. Plenty of
parking in the vacant lot next to us, there used to be a house there
but it burned down a handful of years ago. I remember a loud
knocking at our front door in the middle of the night. My dad
answered the door and the lady of the house screamed to call 911. We
did and that made for a good show. We let her kids stay with us that
evening. There were about five kids between one year and seven years
old. That was probably about five years before the wedding.
The
multi-tier cake sat in the shade on a table and we waited for my
sister to arrive at the party. Her, Ryan, and one-year-old Jakob
drove together in her car. We waited. And waited. Eventually we got
word that they had been in a car accident. My mom and dad got in the
van and started to drive west on tenth street. I got out in front
and stopped them and hopped in the van as well and we were off. I'll
be damned if I wouldn't be there for my little big sister. This
probably wasn't the greatest move on my part. My little
eleven-year-old brother and my non-English speaking grandparents were
left behind at the party with nothing but worry to fill their
thoughts. They were all clueless as to what was happening and must
have been scared.
We
got to my sister and their wrecked gold colored Neon. The airbags
were deployed and the front end was smashed. April, Ryan and Jakob
were OK, just shaken. We must have been quite the sight to behold.
The wreck happened in front of Walmart on Highway 121, just North of
my old high school and my beloved Burger King.
An elderly man pulled out in front of Ryan and smashed right into
them. The old man was taken away in an ambulance. There was a
wedding party in the highway by a wrecked car as traffic drove past.
A bride in her wedding grown crying, getting comforted by her doting
momma. A bunch of men in suites. Bunch of rubbernecking gawkers
slowing down to get an eyeful.
I
was told to get a hold of a phone to call our house phone, let people
know everything would be OK. Some girl from the wedding was behind
April in traffic when it happened. She was around and had a cell
phone. I had never used a cell phone before and was baffled how to
use the damn thing. She helped me out and I made my call. Johnathan
answered the phone and I told him we'd be home soon. Put Oma on the
phone please. I explained the same thing to here as best I could in
my horrible German.
We
all squeezed into the van and made it to the reception. My sister's
dress was torn and burned in places. But they were alright. It was
time for cake, the guests were getting restless. Oh hell. We took
quite a bit longer than anybody had expected to get started. Like an
hour and a half delayed. In the Texas Summer heat. As the bride and
groom headed to the cake to begin slicing, it collapsed and fell
right onto the grass. Fortunately pictures of the cake were taken
before hand, and the bottom tier managed to not slide off its
pedestal. Let's feast on Brisket, potato salad, all the fix-in’s
and cake!
Days
later I'd drive my sister to the salvage yard to get what was worth
getting out of her car. It would take months and months for the
insurance company to give them the money for a new car. Such a burden
on top of all the events they had to go through.
Many
would say that such disasters on a wedding day would prove to be a
bad omen. Sixteen years later though, they are still married.
The next year in fact, they'd welcome a new member to the family.
Adorable baby Joseph would be another point of pride for my father
who adored his grandsons. They have had struggles. But anything
worth having is worth fighting for, right? Very few things in life
that are easy is worth having. Cliche's I know, but they are steeped
in honest to goodness wisdom.
My
sister's wedding day, while a series of unfortunate events, was a
blessing. That wreck could have been much worse. The dress is some
piece of clothing destined to be put away in storage anyway, why not
proudly display the scars of battle? The car was replaced. The cake
was still eaten, and was going to be demolished anyway. The
memories are priceless. American Express can go fly a kite, they had
a truly unique wedding day that nobody will forget.
This
was all a reminder that even in the face of incredulous misfortune,
blessings can be uncovered in extreme circumstances. What doesn't
kill you, makes for a fantastic story to tell.
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| My dad watching my Opa and Jakob sleep in front of my "guest house". 2001 |
If I had to pick a single song to be the soundtrack to this post it would be...
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