Cyber Wedding

So, I watched my best friend’s wedding at 4:30 this morning – via Skype. Deanna Minnick-now Board-got married on Saturday. She has been my best friend since about 7th grade, and it killed me that I wasn’t able to be there for her wedding. Seeing her wedding with a webcam, while nothing close to being there, was still really wonderful. I got to see how she looked, hear her say her vows, even see my parents leave the sanctuary. I got to speak with my other best friend, Carrie, as well as my friends Katie, Kendra, and Kendra’s mom/my orchestra teacher. I even met Katie’s boyfriend for the first time after the wedding! I felt bad because another JET, Chris Allison, who is one of Brandon’s (Deanna’s husband’s) good friends, got all dressed up in a suit. I was in pajamas and had just woken up from a four-hour slumber.

Seeing the wedding, while a nice consolation to being unable to attend, made me really sad. Since I’ve been here, I haven’t really been “homesick.” I miss certain things and people, but the actual feeling of homesickness hadn’t really set in – until I watched the wedding. I just know how exciting wedding days are, and that there are so many moments and special conversations that I have missed that I wanted so much to be a part of. Before the wedding while I was still in the States, Deanna and I would talk about her wedding, her new home, and other things related to getting married. For the last 6 weeks, I haven’t been able to do that. And not being there for her wedding was heartbreaking in a way.

What really stinks about going on an adventure like moving to Japan, is that as wonderful and exciting as it is, it is still a trade off. Being in a foreign county means I gain a lot of new experiences, challenges, and friends; but it also means that I miss out on important experiences and moments back home. Adam and I will also be missing the birth of our second niece/nephew in October-November. And come Thanksgiving/Christmas we will certainly be missing the traditions and good times with our families. But I guess we will come out of this time away with a new perspective on how precious such things as weddings and times with family and friends really are. I guess part of the experience of moving to a foreign county is realizing all the great things you left behind.

~Melissa

~ by amfenrick on September 13, 2009.