Fly Away

W must have like 12 billions butterflies in his stomach. His veins were all tied in dead knots that were impossible to undo, his head were a sloshing and dizzying turbulence, his feet were icy cold and his hands were all jittery as if he was high on meth. His speech was reduced to such a slur of almost incomprehensible sounds.

W was beyond stressed out. He could hardly crack the faintest smile, as his elaborate and colorful Javanese-Sumatran-Banjar style wedding to his beautiful and graceful wife-to-be, D, was barely days away. Oh yeah, no wonder he could not smile!

The 2-day wedding festivities were full of traditions and highly symbolic. First day were the showers for the going-to-weds. Separately, both the bride and the groom had the first sprinkle of water gently splashed to them by the respective parents at the exact same moment. Thanks to the count down via mobile phones. Later that night was the bachelor night rated G at W’s place, loads of singing and food. Then the second day was the big day with the lavish wedding ceremony and the opulent reception at night, attended by hundreds of guests.

Throughout the 2-day affair, there was a particularly poignant moment. After the morning prayers on the shower day, W knelt in front of his parents. Solemnly, in simple but moving words he gave thanks to his parents for their love and upbringing, he proudly announced his plan to get married then humbly asked for his parents’ blessing and finally he sought forgiveness from his folks for all his wrong doings.

Half kneel and half crawl, he then moved forward to his father, kissed him and embraced him. Next to his mother, he kissed her and embraced her, then put his forehead on her laps. She bent down placing her hands and head on W’s shoulder. She was crying. At that moment W lost it. His nose turned red and quickly followed by his eyes. His throat turned lumpy and choked. They locked in such gentle embrace, like forever. It was truly powerful, intense and emotional, one of those moments that split one’s life into before and after. With that blessing and embrace they gave away their only son (In Javanese tradition the groom live with the bride in her family after marriage). From then on, W was all grown up, leaving home and starting a family of his own.

Congratulations W.

All the best, D.