SERENITY CONNECTION: lemonade

INDIANAPOLIS — Sarah Cummins was supposed to get married this weekend. The 25-year-old Purdue University pharmacy student had been planning her dream wedding for two years, scrimping and working overtime to save for the $30,000 extravaganza.

“It was really devastating to me. I called everyone, canceled, apologized, cried, called vendors, cried some more, and then I started feeling really sick about just throwing away all the food I ordered for the reception,” she said. 

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”  Her wedding was scheduled for this weekend.  All the details were arranged, cake was ordered, centerpieces were created, the Ritz Charles garden pavilion was reserved for the reception, and tons of food were ordered.  She planned for 170 guests for a plated dinner to include bourbon-glazed meatballs, goat cheese and roasted garlic bruschetta, chicken breast with artichokes and Chardonnay cream sauce, and, of course, wedding cake.

So, what does one do when one’s wedding punch is a bowl full of sour lemons?  Lemonade, of course.  Sarah has contacted local shelters and is hosting her reception, sans husband, for a very special guest list of Indianapolis homeless people, one hundred and seventy of them.  As if that in itself doesn’t speak enough for the this woman’s unflappable heart, she is keeping the honeymoon plan, sans husband, saying, “I’m going by myself. I’m nervous, but I feel like it will be really good strength-building for me. I want that time alone.”

Sweetheart, don’t worry, with your generosity and positivity that time alone will be short-lived.  Some of us cry over our sour lemons; others make lemonade…..or, in your case, a wonderful, memorable lunch for the less fortunate of Indianapolis and Noblesville, Indiana.

America, Sarah Cummins is who we are, what we represent as a nation.  Don’t allow the incessant negativity passing for leadership to tell us otherwise.

Maureen Gilmer http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/bride-to-be-calls-off-wedding-invites-homeless-to-reception/ar-BBEn31d?li=BBnb4R7&ocid=spartandhp