The enormity of this moment hit me was while I was standing in the church, Prague Crossroads, before the service. Music filled the air. Spot lights splashed violet colors against the stone walls. The candles were set on the stage. The harpist warmed up. The flower girls passed out Czech wedding cakes. Occasionally, they dropped one and reset them on the tray before they continued to distribute them to the crowd. A huge dwarf statue leaned against the wall. With glasses of Proseco in their hands, the guests admired the building.

Off to the side, in my suit, white waist coat, and new shoes, I looked around at the crowd of the families, Czech relatives, friends from all over America, England, Hungary, Northern Ireland, and the Czech Republic.

My friend Linda appeared in front of me and smiled, “How are you?”

She had travelled all that way to be here at this special moment. She got a passport and moved mountains. Her journey wasn’t easy but she did it. I don’t think I could put into words-my feelings of what she had done for me.

I broke down and cried. Linda hugged me until I was better. Then, she disappeared into the crowd.

After the beautiful ceremony, the vows, the pictures, the lunch, the reception, I read Linda’s card with a first line of a poem (that she once gave me long ago).

Shang Ya
By Arthur Waley, trans.

From “Chinese Poems”

Anonymous—First Century B. C.

SHANG YA!
I want to be your friend
For ever and ever without break or decay.
When the hills are all flat
And the rivers are all dry, 5
When it lightnings and thunders in winter,
When it rains and snows in summer,
When Heaven and Earth mingle—
Not till then will I part from you.