What's Love Got to Do With It?

Everything; Love was a guest at my daughter's wedding and visited my FIL in hospice

When my father-in-law was dying he was surrounded by family. As he transitioned, I felt an overwhelming energy in the hospital room. It was love. I had experienced this feeling once before, so I knew what was happening. It was a powerful Divine energy. If you’ve never experienced it, it’s tough to describe but I’ll try. It encompasses your entire being. It displaces the ego. My sadness was gone. There wasn’t a visual that day. There was no Patrick Swayze at the end of the movie, Ghost, with a spotlight over him. It was pure feeling. Imagine your pet, partner or child giving you some sugar and how you feel in that moment. Now imagine that feeling a quadrillion times more powerful.

As everyone sobbed, I wanted to say, “Don’t you feel that? Don’t you feel that love?”
But I kept it to myself respecting the wave of emotions from hubby-Jeffrey and his stepfamily.

Marriage

23 years later my daughter, Samantha, married her soul mate. They were High School sweethearts, even winning the title, Prom King and Queen, their senior year. Hercole (not his real name) was part of an Italian foreign student program at Samantha’s Boston High School.

The weekend of their wedding, this love-feeling returned, but it was in a collective human form. Because our souls are mere bits and pieces of the vast Divine love energy, what I felt was on a smaller level yet still powerful. It was an energy emanating from family and friends who traveled and gathered to participate in this occasion.

The Bride outshines even the Tuscan sky.

I later realized this is why I sobbed as I walked down the aisle, why I always cry at weddings. The love is so overwhelming I don’t know what to do with the feeling. The tears “of joy” purge. I pretty much wept the entire weekend.

I’ve got two sons now. 🥰

The guests’ dedication to be in Tuscany at this moment in time was beyond touching. My gratitude made me cry too.

Tuscany is not an easy place to get to. After taking an expensive flight to Italy, there are no trains throughout the Tuscan region. One must rent a car, driver or rely on a shuttle to/from a hotel, provided (hopefully) by the Bride’s parents. Traveling to Italy for a wedding— It’s a big friggin’ ask of people.

My sister and her entire family made the trek to Tuscany. My nephew is starting a business and managed to come with his girlfriend who runs her own business. My niece and her hubby attended a different wedding across the country, in California, then backtracked for Samantha’s wedding the following weekend— with a 6-week old baby. Samantha’s friends all showed up. One is in her medical residency in California sometimes working 24-hour shifts. She was there. Her speech talked about how Samantha changed her life. She later approached me and thanked me for giving birth to Samantha. My eyes welled up again. Another friend of theirs from High School, originally from Saudi Arabia, had to fly home to Saudi Arabia, to obtain a special visa, just so he could attend their wedding in Tuscany.

 

With Saleh who flew to Saudi Arabia for a special visa. And that Tuscan sky!

Meredith was there. She was one of Samantha’s friends who will forever have a special place in my heart. She was unusually supportive during a rough time in Samantha’s life, an old soul who wasn’t scared of another kid’s issues. At the welcome dinner she kept hugging me and telling me how much she loved me. I thought maybe she had too much Prosecco. But the next day when she was sober, I asked her if she remembered last night and how many times she said, “I love you,” and she replied confidently, “I remember perfectly. I love you.” And she embraced me again. I was relieved to be wearing waterproof mascara again.

Samantha’s doctor-to-be friend repeated to me privately how Samantha changed her life. 

Hubby’s oldest friend (and Best Man at our wedding) flew in from Singapore— in Coach Class! Did you just get a leg cramp? When I first heard this my hip fell out of its socket.

And the people who couldn’t make it? I know they sent their love on a plane and their hearts landed on the grass overlooking the vineyard and distant hillsides. (They also had to the opportunity to stream the ceremony.)

Early morning at Castillo di Gabbiano. Photo by Hubby-Jeffrey.

The “Memorial table.” Our loved ones were there in spirit. 🙏🏻

Samantha and my son in law are from two different countries, cultures, languages and religions yet they are soul mates. They are an example of what humanity could achieve if we only embraced each other. Their vows were read in both English and Italian. Their friends and our families collectively didn’t just pack a suitcase of wedding wear, they brought their hearts and wore them on their skirts and ties. And boy did I feel it. I’m already a sensitive person. I’m an open soul which is why I suspect I can feel G-d’s energy at very rare moments.

Star Crossed Lovers

Jeffrey and I and my sister, Vicki, and brother-in-law traveled to Sicily after the wedding. Besides the ruins from 400 BC that are more intact than some found in Greece, you will see new colorful ceramic heads of a man and woman EVERYWHERE. There are a few stories behind this island legend but one is based on two young lovers who were murdered together. (Warning: more awful content to follow.) A Sicilian girl from nobility fell in love with an Arab merchant. When the girl’s parents discovered their affair, the young couple were both beheaded. Their heads were used as vases and hung on a balcony as a lesson. Today the Moors’ heads/vases are always created in pairs and sold in every store, hotel, and airport next to the delicious Amaro liquor. The theme of their love has persisted for over a thousand years. I’m hoping these “figure heads” are a celebration of love rather than a continued caution. The moral, to me, is a reminder to never underestimate the power of the Divine energy which is a gift to us. It’s not a delicacy. It’s not rare or expensive. It’s a present that is always in front of us if we just take the time to notice.

I leave you with this thought-- All emotions are linked to the ego except for one—Love. 

Mille feuille (a thousand layers) is a French pastry that has become a traditional Italian wedding cake prepared in front of the guests.

Recommendations

I’m not the only witness to the miraculous. There are hundreds of thousands of NDE (Near Death Experience) stories. Ulla Gaudin writes about it in her Substack. She was dead for 20 minutes and returned just so she could start a Substack.

I know nothing about Akashic Records but Victoria Fann’s monthly essays on the subject always resonate.

Finally, a live, previously recorded, edited, spontaneous, scripted video from the wedding.

1.        Do you cry at weddings?

2.        Ever feel the power of love?

3.        Would you move to Tuscany? I would.