Wednesday, March 17, 2021

The Wedding was a joyous event. The couple did not let the virus get in the way of their love for each other. They were going to be sure their family and friends could witness their vows of love.
 
The groom and his family have been family friends for more than 20 years. The wedding was planned for August and was subject to state restrictions on the size of gatherings. In addition to the usual emotions of planning a wedding was that the groom’s father had been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor, which meant that he had only months left to live.
Coordinating with Pastor Schul and the church, the families of the couple could be in the sanctuary to witness the ceremony in person. A Zoom link was set up so that all of us friends could be watching the ceremony from home. My sons, Paul and Peter, set up the Zoom call and the cameras in the sanctuary for the virtual viewers.
We decided to watch the Zoom broadcast “tailgate style” in the church parking lot. We all dressed up as though we would have been inside the church. My son, John, put a 42” TV screen in the back of his car for viewing. We sat in lawn chairs and held umbrellas due to the light showers. There were several other tailgating groups in the parking lot. After the ceremony, the bride and groom came out on the porch for a “wave” and were met with applause from the tailgaters.
There were the usual tears you see at a wedding, but what choked everybody up and made the tears roll was seeing the groom’s father on the screen watching from his hospital bed at Hershey. The nurses had instructions as to how to set him up with a computer and access the Zoom call so he could watch the wedding. He got to see his son get married to a wonderful young lady. He passed away about two months later.
We will forever remember that day as each year passes by. Even in the trying times we have had, something warms the heart to tears, happy ones.
 
“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance;”                                                                  James 1:2-3
 
 Tom Horn