Lockdown wedding
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 01:02AM Lockdown 3. My main man and I emerged blearily from an enchanted few hours at the NGV’s Triennial Exhibition last Friday, blissfully unaware of what was happening in the world. We switched on our phones to 14 what’s app messages from our daughters about the new, snap lockdown. Panic stations – two of our closest family friends were getting married the following day.
Not any more they weren’t. The directives were abundantly clear –weddings ‘not permitted unless end of life or other exceptional reason’.
Somehow, our mates pulled off what seemed an impossible feat – they brought the wedding forward 24 hours and celebrant, venue, caterers, florist, photographers, DJ, everyone bar a couple of guests, came to the party. Literally.
An abundance of goodwill surrounds most weddings; this one felt extra-special, happening, as it did, in the teeth of renewed lockdown and against what seemed like impossible odds. From disappointment to delight, we were swept up in relief and joy and celebration.
I’ve been reminded over and over, these last 12 months, of human ingenuity. People conjure remarkable solutions out of dire situations and make them work. Our friends fast forwarding a wedding in three hours was one example; you will have others.
It still surprises me that so many – including technological dolts like myself - have become adept at ways of connecting, communicating, supporting, meeting and working that would normally have taken us months to learn. It is extraordinary that a viable COVID vaccine has been produced so quickly.
Quite apart from these technological and scientific breakthroughs, there are other discoveries. That physical neighbours are not only important, but a life line, and ordinary kindness is a powerful force. That colleagues can support each other even when they are not physically together. That parents are endlessly resourceful and patient. That being able to walk in fresh air is a mighty privilege and sometimes all you need to keep sane. That travel and eating out are luxuries we should never take for granted.
We have no idea what our new normal will look like next week, next year, in ten years. If I could wish for one thing to emerge from the COVID experience, it would be that we harness our resilience and ingenuity to tackle the problems that are even more daunting than COVID – poverty, racism, domestic violence, war and environmental degradation – in the years ahead. From a family wedding to videoconferencing to a vaccine, we’ve shown that when we really want to, we can move mountains.
Reader Comments (3)
Beautifully put, Claire.
Beautifully put, Clare.
Wow! Mightily impressed with that achievement Clare. How did they possibly do it? It must have meant a high degree of co-operation by everyone. I wish we could create a vaccine that would protect us from the diseases that make the elimination of poverty, racism, violence in all its forms and all those intractable ills that bedevil humankind impossible to achieve.