Shopping for a wedding gown was a joyous, exciting event, not just for the kallah but for me as well. She is my oldest child, and this would be the first wedding in our family. Every step of the preparations elevated our spirits. We printed the invitations and mailed them all out – and not only that, the return cards came in and almost everyone responded positively.
Then tragedy came crashing down on our heads. Three days before the wedding, the rabbi of our future son-in law called and asked if he could come over. We tried to anticipate why he would want to visit us, and many different thoughts crossed our minds, but that which prompted him to call never occurred to any of us. As he walked into the house, his discomfort was apparent.
He asked to speak to my husband and me privately, and that made us very nervous. What could he possibly want? We were behind closed doors and our daughter became very agitated. He apologetically explained that he didn’t want to be the messenger of ill tidings, but having no choice, he had to come over.
Our intended future son-in-law, of whom we all thought so highly, asked that he inform us he couldn’t go through with the marriage.
I thought I would collapse. I looked at my husband and it appeared that, G-d forbid, he would have a heart attack. I felt totally paralyzed. How could I tell this to my beautiful, sweet, innocent daughter? And then a thousand and one thoughts rushed to my mind – one more horrible than the other.
(To Be Continued)
