A Citi Field baseball wedding
What would you say about a Muslim Turkish bride marrying an orthodox Jewish groom on the balcony overlooking Mets stadium? Only in New York folks, only in New York, as the New York Post loves to say. Beyhan, the bride, had come here to study for her MBA and worked at Starbucks to support herself. There, she meets Michael, the Starbucks manager, and they start a relationship. He was most admiring of her independence in leaving behind all her friends and family in Turkey and coming here by herself to begin a new life. Michael was also impressed with her beauty – both outside and in.
He had grown up on Long Island playing baseball and talking sports with his friends from the time he could speak. The first thing he did when he came home from school was log on to the New York Mets website to get the latest stats, scores, or trades. As he grew older, he and his friends followed the team to such cities as Pittsburgh and San Diego. This is one zealous fan. He decided he wanted to get married on the balcony overlooking Citi Field, and Beyhan agreed.
We wrote the service together, the three of us, and one of Beyhan’s friends, who is Ecuadorian, walked her down the aisle. Michael used a family Kiddish cup, and all parts of the Jewish wedding ceremony were included. We found a wedding poem by the Arab poet Rumi that speaks of creation and of Jacob and Joseph. Amazing what commonality one can find in different religious traditions.
For their Citi Field baseball wedding, they hoped for a picture-perfect sunny day, but it was windswept and rainy instead. That did not dampen anyone’s spirits, and before breaking the glass, we all yelled, “Play Ball!”