The Russian Wedding
August 29, 2010
Our eldest son Brad had been living in St. Petersburg Russia for three years teaching English in a language school when he called with some very big news. Brad had met a beautiful young Russian woman named Yulia Galyatkina. She was a friend of one of his students and they were making plans to be married in a couple of months and they were hoping that we could come to the wedding. As you can imagine there was a flurry of activity making travel plans and getting an expedited visa to go to Russia on short notice. We wanted Brad’s brothers to go with us, that added to the involved logistics of making the trip. We arrived in Russia the day before the wedding and had a lovely dinner with Yulia’s parents and her brother that evening. This was my first time to meet my new daughter-in-law and her family. Fortunately Yulia speaks perfect English so she was our translator for the weekend. We gave gifts to our son’s new family, a silk scarf for her mother and a bottle of Jack Daniels for her father, he was delighted! Her father made it very clear to John that the fathers were to give toast to the occasion and that it was important that fathers keep up with each other in giving toasts.
The next morning Brad, his brothers, and John and I were together on a beautiful fall day before the civil ceremony was to begin. I looked at my husband and three handsome sons dressed in black suits and dark sun glasses standing on a street corner in Russia and thought, wow we look like the American Mafia or the Blues Brothers or both. There were two wedding ceremonies, one a civil ceremony required by the government and one a religious ceremony which was a choice made by Brad and Yulia to me married in an Orthodox church. The civil ceremony was held in a large ornate government building. This location will forever house my American husband’s signature as a witness to “The Russian Wedding.” The religious ceremony was held in a historical Russian Orthodox Church that was at that time under reconstruction since the Soviet era when it was turned into an ice skating rink in an attempt to do away with religious activities. There was so much to learn, so much to understand, we were overwhelmed, but it was happening and there we were in St. Petersburg Russia at Brad and Yulia’s wedding. The dinner after the Orthodox wedding was held in a beautiful old restaurant in downtown St. Petersburg. We dined on delicious food and enjoyed visiting with Yulia’s family and friends. The highlight of the evening came for me when Alexander, Yulia’s father, asked me to dance. Our dance was none other than Chubby Checker’s version of “The Twist” I was dancing with a Russian Army General as all the guests laughed and applauded. This was great for international relations. Chubby’s voice sang out loud and clear over the public address system as we did “the twist” to an American classic.
The next morning we packed our bags to return to America. I did not want to forget one single moment of this amazing weekend in Russia and this very important family event. Yulia came to me before we left, she smiled and said to me, “Rita, I really love your son.” With a hug and a tear I simply said, “thank you.” I understood their love for each other; and what more could a mother possibly hope for her son?