For Weddings and a Funeral

Special note: For this week I decided to rerun a very particular PGG because, really, how often do royal weddings come around?! Instead of tornadoes in Alabama seven years ago, we had them right here in the northeast the other day; and although we didn’t have anything as singular as the death of Bin Laden, we’ve had similar mob mentality on social media recently for a variety of folks whose reputations have been killed for one unsavory reason or another. 

This time I got marginally sucked in to the frenzy when I watched the Lifetime movie version of Harry & Meghan’s story, and now have a greater degree of insight into their courtship than I care to or should; I guess this wedding does spark even more intrigue than the previous because, forget being a commoner, it involves an “older”  biracial-American-actress-divorcee-feminist-humanitarian bride….It’s a powerful representation and it will be interesting to see how the newlyweds use their platform once the pomp and circumstance subside. 

There are certainly other more “serious” things that could warrant all the time, attention and fanfare (not to mention the price tag!), but hey, most of us love a good fairy tale royal romance as a respite from reality, and lord knows we could use a little pixie dust, now more than ever. ❤ ❤ ❤ 

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I tried to resist, I really did.  I did not want to contribute one more thought to the nuptials of two young royals, a story which has been regurgitated, dissected and discussed in a plethora of ways ad nauseam for the months, weeks and days leading up to it.  And once it was officially over, we hoped we could move on with more important things, and I don’t mean birth certificates or transcripts.

But then a funny thing happened. Having a minor curiosity in the whole affair, I woke up Friday morning, turned on the TV, and like the tornadoes that had devastatingly destroyed much of Alabama the day before, I somehow got sucked into the vortex of everything Wills and Kate!!  It was hard to get around it, frankly, and like that darn car accident everyone slows down for, I simply could not turn away.

Besides getting the dress fix, I was mesmerized by the orderliness of the mega crowd; the sheer detail, beauty and majesty of it all, and how much global attention had been placed on this singular event, which unified a nation and the world. I thought about how people can indeed come together in positive, dare I say, innocent ways, even if much of it comes down to a shared fantasy.  And then another funny thing happened.

In the midst of writing this, news broke of the demise of a man with a turban and beard who had ties to a different royal family, and many people all around our country gathered spontaneously in the streets to revel in the news.  It received equal if not more global attention, but it remains to be seen how jubilant an occasion is it really? Significant and somber, yes, but having a party to celebrate revenge and the death of anyone is not the same. No matter how happy you are that Bin Laden is dead, that type of celebration comes from a place of hate and fear, not love.

My writing often talks about how we need to Let Love Rule, because What the World Needs Now is Love, sweet love. Fairy tales and fascination aside, no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from, we all want to love and be loved in return. Even with bad decisions and family feuds, weddings are generally joyous occasions, and funerals are not, but both tap into our desire for that basic of human needs, and should always unify us for good.

You may live in Queens or Kings County, but you don’t have to come from a special blood line or marry a Prince or Princess to have a charmed life. Give me a buzz and I’ll show you how to become the sovereign monarch of your own peaceful kingdom and love life happily ever after!