Wedding Crashers
    It was my oldest child’s wedding. My daughter Amanda looked beautiful and the ceremony went off without a hitch. The church had been decorated with white bows and calla lilies. When I walked her down the aisle it was as though I was walking in a dream. So many things swirled around in my mind. I was aware that this ceremony was very much different than my son Andrew’s wedding two years before.
    My wife Cindy Morrison Beck passed away five months before his wedding. At that time I was still in a complete fog but Cindy would not have wanted the delay. Andrew’s wedding was in Cottonwood, Arizona and we lived in western Pennsylvania. It added to the stress in my life riding herd my daughter Anna, my mother-in-law, and the luggage as we flew from Pittsburgh to Phoenix, Arizona.
    Amanda’s wedding was great. The weather was as lovely as the bride. The wedding was over and the wedding party went for photographs while the guests were invited to attend the reception, enjoy cookies, and snacks until the photo session was over. Music was playing and punch bowls were filled. Guests were nibbling and mingling while we waited. It was like almost like every other reception.
    Before I tell the rest of the story, I need to explain. The reception hall we used was a community center in a rural area between the two very small towns of Indian Head and Normalville, Pennsylvania. There are no major recreational draws in the summer. There are two ski areas, but this was August. Two Frank Lloyd Wright homes and white water rafting are the only year round draws to our area.
    The bridal party arrived at the hall in a stretch limousine. They’d just stepped out and were about to walk up outside stairs to enter the reception hall when a small car sped into the parking lot. It surprised my daughter and her new husband. They turned to see what was happening.
    Initially they thought someone was arriving late and were hurrying to get inside, but they were surprised when the car halted in the middle of the lot. Car doors popped open. The wedding party watched in stunned amazement. A whirlpool of four people emerged, leaping from the car. The “visitors” ran up the stairs and asked to take pictures with my daughter and new son-in-law. One of the wedding party took the “visitor’s” camera and snapped several pictures.
    While the pictures were being taken, the strangers talked to the newly-weds. The visitors were from Israel and on a whim, seeing the bride and groom decided to stop for photographs. As soon as they got the pictures, they returned to their car and sped away.
    My daughter told me later that the bridal party looked at each other like “What just happened?”
    The reception went well. Good food, good friends, and music made the night enjoyable.
    After the honeymoon was over, my daughter told me about the strangers and the photo shoot. I said, “Why didn’t you invite them in. We had plenty of food.”
    She said, “Dad! We were so surprised and they were back in their car and gone before we could say anything.”