A month ago my sister told me she had wrestled all night because God had given her a message to pass along to me. As I stood in the Honda dealership waiting for my car to be serviced, I wondered what God had told my sister that he chose not to tell me. It didn’t take her long to tell me that in order to get my new novel “Married in the Nick of Nine” to the next level I would have to look deep within because the answer was inside of me. “What?” was my immediate response. My sister is very spiritual, much more than I am, but like her, I do believe God can speak to us. It’s that inner voice. So I closed my eyes and a giant wedding gown filled my entire being and in that moment I had the answer. I was supposed to organize a wedding march. I was so excited that I ran out of the dealership onto the parking lot talking a mile a minute. The car salesmen probably thought I had gone bonkers.
After the initial excitement wore off, reality began to sink in, and I was gripped with fear. What in the world was I thinking? A wedding march? How am I going to organize a wedding march? Where am I going to get the brides? Where am I going to hold the march? This is insane. Nonetheless, I stayed prayerful and asked God to lead me every step of the way. Initially I thought about recruiting family members but after my aunt turned me down in an incredulous tone, I knew family would not be an option. So I decided to put out a casting call.
In the process of moving forward I began to think about Cassandra Whitmore, the protagonist in “Married in the Nick of Nine” and how she has this list of requirements her prospective mate must possess. It dawned on me that there were many women like Cassandra and that in some cases women put up restrictions because on a deeper level, they’re afraid of actually making a commitment. There are other ways women avoid commitment. Some may say they want a serious relationship, but oftentimes, it’s just lip service, because when the opportunity arises, they find frivolous reasons as to why the other person is not suitable. In my case, I passed over interested men because I was addicted to going after unavailable men. It took years, but I came to the conclusion that I didn’t really believe I was lovable or deserved to be loved. When my husband came into my life and expressed and showed his commitment to me, I thought something was wrong with him for being interested in me. Thank goodness I finally put my guard down and allowed him to love me.
In my casting call, I expressed to the prospective brides that the march was not only a means by which I could get more exposure for my book, but it was also the start of what I want to call a new marital movement, whereby I am suggesting to women that they tear up their restrictive lists and give the average guy a chance. I’m not saying to lower one’s standards, but perhaps there’s some blue collar guy that’s been after you and he’s a decent hardworking guy. Maybe there’s some great guy that may be short on height and money, but he wants to treat you like a queen. You might just want to think about trading in those four-inch Louboutins for a pair of flats.
Once I had my brides, everything else fell into place. The march took place on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA on October 20 and it was a blast. I even ran into the iconic Ron Howard and his wife! She took one look at the brides and asked “Where are the grooms?” Lol!