{"id":7829,"date":"2011-07-18T02:38:58","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T10:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.godammit.com\/?p=7829"},"modified":"2011-07-18T02:38:58","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T10:38:58","slug":"the-wedding-a-parable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/the-wedding-a-parable\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wedding: A Parable."},"content":{"rendered":"

The wedding was also an opportunity for me to see old friends, and to see some of Max’s school pals who were now grown ups. \u00a0There were babies and toddlers everywhere and I got to hold a placid baby girl wearing a pink tutu.<\/p>\n

We couldn’t help but notice a family with three or four young children, all completely bald. \u00a0I assumed that one of the kids had lost his hair from chemotherapy and the others had shaven their heads in solidarity. You hear about this practice more and more, and I respect the \u00a0sacrifice \u00a0and devotion involved.<\/p>\n

After several funny speeches, the bride and groom danced to a recording of a silly song about bees or something. \u00a0It looked like a dance you learn in preschool, with funny hand-motions. It was adorable. During their dance, one of the bald kids joined in, weaving between them and spinning around happily in her own world.<\/p>\n

It was such a poignant bittersweet image: The glowing couple embarking on a new life together, the little child with cancer, whose fate was uncertain.<\/p>\n

When I was drunk enough, I danced with my husband, who wouldn’t let me lead. Then I danced with some women who just wanted to shake it up regardless of the too-fast beat and our painful high heels. When we finally said goodbye to the groom, we learned that the bald kids had \u00a0head-lice, not cancer.<\/p>\n

Ha! See how things change depending on your perspective? It’s a good reminder that all experience is filtered through interpretation. \u00a0From now on, I hope I can remember that a tragic worldview could be a lapse of judgement or a \u00a0tendency \u00a0to see cancer instead of \u00a0head-lice. I can’t think of a proverb to \u00a0illustrate \u00a0this insight.<\/p>\n

Anyone up to it? It has to include the word \u00a0head-lice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"