Starting next week, this newsletter will be publishing your quarantine and coronavirus stories twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, rather than the previous four days a week. We have more stories than I know what to do with, and this is an undeniable resource and balm … but I also don’t want to overwhelm people.

We will continue to run stories from you about how this is affecting you, your family, your friends … your daily life, every Monday and Wednesday. (The regular weekly newsletter will continue uninterrupted.) Email me your story at williamfleitch@yahoo.com.

We have just one story today. It is a happy one, and one that is unique to this specific crisis. Be safe, send me your stories at williamleitch@yahoo.com, and try to get some calm this weekend. I sense we’re all starting to settle into this now: It’s rough out there, so let’s just strap in and ride it out.

Today’s story is from Javad Khazaeli:

About two weeks ago, my wife Mollie was texting with one of our friends, Lauren. Lauren and her fiancé, Alex, had just decided to cancel their wedding, scheduled to be held in a few weeks, because of the pandemic. Jokingly, Mollie mentioned that I was an internet minister, ordained by the Church of Spiritual Humanism; I “earned” my license two years ago when I performed a close family friend’s wedding. Lauren laughed it off.

But. The next day she reached out and asked if I was serious; she and her fiancee were worried that the license bureau would close down. They were urgent. With this much uncertainty, who wouldn’t want to get their legal affairs in order? My lawyer gene kicked in. I started calling the government office to confirm that all of my ordination paperwork was in order. I then quickly said yes. We got moving.

Less than 16 hours later, Lauren and Alex showed up on our sidewalk in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis.

Mollie had set up a table on our sidewalk. The table was wiped down with Clorox. She left two pairs of latex gloves and a decontaminated pen. We decorated it with a Get Well bouquet my four-year-old received from her grandparents two weeks earlier, when we thought a cancelled Disney cruise out of New Orleans because of Influenza A was a bummer, rather than, as it turned out, a godsend.

Lauren called her wedding photographer. Luckily, Raquita lived in the neighborhood, grabbed her zoom lens and ran down.

We texted our neighbor Ida, who agreed to be a witness from a socially safe distance.

My nine-year-old put on make up.

I grabbed the karaoke machine and put on a tux. It was time to party. I chose “Zombie” by the Cranberries. We blasted it. Our other neighbors came out to see what the racket was. And then they danced with us from across the street.

It was an awesome, unforgettable Corona-free wedding. You can watch the full video here.

Over the last week, every time we have taken a family walk, people from the neighborhood have kept stopping us, from at least 10 feet away of course, to tell us they saw us and loved it.

Hopefully, Lauren and Alex will remember the ceremony for years to come. I know we all will.

I think I needed that.

Send me your stories at williamfleitch@yahoo.com. Regular newsletter coming Saturday, with next rounds of stories coming Monday and Wednesday.

Have a great weekend, all. Please be safe.

Best,
Will