By Nicholas Curry
Special To The Carolinian
On Thursday, November 22, 2017, I got down on one knee as my girlfriend entered our one-bedroom apartment after a long day at work. Once she opened the door and entered the apartment, she immediately was met by me staring nervously into her eyes as I uttered the words “Will you marry me?” She was at a loss for words and happily accepted my proposal. We announced our engagement publicly the next day on Thanksgiving Day and were pleasantly overwhelmed with the amount of love and support we received. That was 29 months ago; our wedding was scheduled to take place on April 9, 2020.
Due to the recent, unexpected outbreak of COVID-19, my fiance and I had to make a very tough decision to postpone our already highly-anticipated, long-awaited wedding ceremony and reception.
After more than two years of planning, the big day was only three weeks away before we had to pull the plug on the original wedding date. We had to contact all vendors and wedding liaisons to inform them the wedding would not be taking place on the April date. Each call and email were harder to make as the day went on, as we were truly looking forward to celebrating and being celebrated on that day with friends and family. But after a few days of sulking, feeling bleak sorry for ourselves, we realized something; the pandemic is not about us.
Thousands of people are testing positive for COVID-19 each day. People are losing loved ones due to the virus and are unable to give them public funerals. Small-business owners are under a large amount of pressure as they try to think of ways to cover their business expenses for the upcoming months. High-school seniors are overwhelmed and stressed about whether their college admission status will be impacted due to the outbreak. Many low-income families are unsure of how they will cover their living expenses for the upcoming months and provide their families with food. Many people across the world have been laid off from their jobs because their job has closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. I say all of this to say, everyone is affected by this pandemic and many people’s lives have been forever changed.
Yes, the postponement of our wedding will forever sting whenever it crosses our mind. However, I encourage everyone to not allow the pandemic to enable you to embrace narcissism. The current status of our world was unexpected, but one thing is for certain, this won’t last forever, and everyone will deserve their moment, whatever that may be, in due time.
Excellent article Mr. Curry. I am sorry that you guys had to postpone your wedding date, but I am still excited and look forward to that day. Love you guys ❤