NOTE: This is a fictional retelling of a Bible story. See the footnote at the bottom of the narrative for
the scripture passage that inspired this modern version of the biblical account.
In just two hours, twenty-two year–old Sharon Rose would
become Mrs. Saul Dove, and she couldn’t be happier about it. Since Sharon was a
little girl she’d dreamed of a big fancy wedding with nine bridesmaids and nine
groomsmen, a maid of honor, and a best man. The church had been decorated with bunches
of white gardenias and miles of white silk ribbons.
The wedding cake and the bride’s dress were visions of
beauty that left Sharon speechless just as Saul would be when he saw his bride
at the wedding.
Right now Sharon’s
sister and maid of honor, Carrie, was helping the bride into her mermaid-style
lace and taffeta gown. Carrie was busily adjusting Sharon. Carrie put her
mother’s pearls around her sister’s. Sharon looked spectacular.
Sharon and Saul met about a
year ago when he was visiting her church, Crossroads Baptist Church. His New
Jersey beverage company relocated in Lacy, Ohio. Sharon heads the visitor’s
ministry at her church Saul visited. As
luck would have it, Sharon made a call to Saul. The more he came back to church,
the more Saul realized they should start dating with all their commonalities.
Twenty-five year-old, dark curly-haired Saul had told strawberry
blonde Sharon many times that he wanted to marry her. Their future housing
plans included living above a Ladeesville flower shop called “Flower Song” that
Sharon hoped to be the owner of.
Sharon wants her wonderful feeling of love on her wedding
day to be unending. In the distance, she can hear soft organ music in the
distance. This should be a day of rejoicing. There is something that isn’t
quite right. Over half of her bridesmaids are missing in action.
Virginia and her four Chi
Kappa Delta sisters (Cristal, Marybeth, Kymm, and Jannee) had flown in
yesterday from various parts of the country. Sharon seemed in a good mood. The
rehearsal and dinner that followed went on as expected. The bridesmaids agreed
to wear horrible Pepto-Bismol colored dresses .Virginia tried to intercede with
a private message seven months earlier on Facebook
that made things worse instead of helping:
"I’ve got to be honest
with you that none of your sorority sisters in your wedding like the bridesmaid dresses you’ve chosen for
us to wear. That shade of pink doesn’t look good on anyone.
It upsets me to communicate with you about
this. I hope it will not negatively affect your relationship with any of us. We
had to make you aware of our feelings on this. Can you figure something else
out? I really do love you."
Virginia McBride
P.S. Although we do not care for the bridesmaid’s
dresses you’ve chosen, we are willing to do what you want. You are that
important to all of us on your special day.
Sharon’s raging temper was
legendary at college when things didn’t go her way. The fall out for being late
to the Dove wedding would not be emotionally painful. Virginia wouldn’t even be
surprised if Sharon locked them out of Crossroads.
The only reasons Virginia could give for their delay was
waking up late, not being able to find the Flamingo pink shade of oil for the glass
lamps all the bridesmaids were carrying at several stores. (Virginia thought it
might have been nice if one of the bridesmaids had bought enough Flamingo pink
oil for all of their glass lamps.) To add to this, the limousine that picked
them up had a small fender bender on the way to church. Thank goodness everyone
was fine.
It
took forever for the police to get there to write up the report. Just as Virginia
had expected by the time the five of them got to the church, the lights were
out and the door was locked. The bride was a stickler for being on-time. Since
they were over thirty minutes late, Sharon and Saul had gotten married without
them.
One
of the bridesmaids should have called on a cell phone to explain the situation
to Sharon. No telling what she would do with this social embarrassment. Virginia
wondered if she was always going to have the misfortune of being stuck right in
the middle of something bad.
“Stop calling me a Bridezilla. I just want what I want when I want it, and I
pity the fool that gets in my way.” (Anonymous)[i]
[i] Adapted from: All for One: The Towns of Ohio
Completer Trilogy by Robert Kinker, Book Two: Chapter Eleven”The
Wedding of Bridezilla,” Song of Solomon 1-3 and Matthew 25:1-13. As well as Whatever by Robert A. Kinker, Chapter
Twenty-One “A Change of Mind.”
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