Life with Maryam edited 2

Part3 cousin zach

It was finally the summer of 2023 when I concluded the end of junior year. It was the year that my anxiety was through the roof, but it ended in spite of all the bumps in the road. Before our trip to Turkey, we had a big wedding that we were invited to. It was the wedding of my cousin, Zach, and his mom, Aunt Norah. He is her first son to get married, and everyone was excited for him since it had taken him a very long time to find the one. We all thought she was the one for him up until the wedding day. That's when disaster struck. Hearts changed, love was lost, and family obligations were cut. On the night of June 18, 2023, was the wedding of my cousin Zach. I had just gotten my new haircut, the asymmetrical one, and it suited me nicely. My mom bought me a beautiful light pink short dress with fluffs and feathers protruding from the top. I looked dazzling, seriously. My mom looked amazing too; she and Aunt Lara took everyone's breath away as they made their way into the hall where the wedding was being held. Aunt Lara and mom had princess-like dresses that looked similar, and they looked like Disney princesses, Mashallah. Everyone felt like they had been overshadowed by them and that they looked more elegant than even the bride's mom. The bride's mom was wearing white on the day of her daughter's wedding, which I thought was absolutely weird and a red flag from the beginning. She acted like she was above everyone just because she was the one hosting the wedding, not Aunt Norah. The wedding was in full swing, everything seemed okay until I sat down next to Mom and Aunt Lara and realized that we had a situation. The groom's family had their phones taken away from them, all of them, not even his mom, Aunt Norah, or sisters were allowed to have access to their phones. Of course, that was quite obvious on their faces. In fact, one of his sisters, cousin Fiona, was caught fighting tears at some point and had to be escorted to the bathroom by Aunt Lara to wipe her tears. She was crying because it was unfair that it was their brother's wedding and they didn't have their phones, while pretty much all of the bride's sisters did, and her mom too. Something gave the feeling that it was all her mom's idea. She started this whole thing and ended the night on a sad note. There was a lot of dancing going on and tears of joy from the bride's side, but on the groom's side, it was a day that was supposed to be joyous that had turned into a nightmare for all of them, including me. As I sat and watched how grumpy, moody, and upset they all were, except for Mom and Aunt Lara who expressed their anger but tried to appear unaffected by it, they were all hurt. When it was time for the bride to walk down the aisle, almost all of the groom's family looked away and paid her no mind. The groom never made his way in, and the bride stayed there for an hour and was then told that Zach, the groom, was waiting for her to take pictures and have a romantic dinner together. The bride made her way out of the hall, and the dancing continued. The groom's family went out to see Zach, congratulate him, and do the traditional celebration. I didn't move a muscle because I didn't want to have to put on my abaya and hijab to do so. Plus, it was too weird anyways. I wasn't that close to Zach growing up, and with all that tension going on between both sides of the family, I was good, really good 😊. In fact, I was ready to go home. Later that night, Aunt Lara, Mom, and I went back to our hotel room as we had already rented one for one night, the best we were there just to change out of our gowns and wear something light to then go home in my mom's car. As we were changing clothes, I heard my mom and Aunt Lara discussing what the bride's mom did and how awful it was. They discussed it thoroughly and it was the topic of conversation for everyone in the family for the next few days until the subject of divorce was brought up. Turns out the phone situation at the wedding was one of the many things, and that it was the last blow for the groom. In the months leading up to the wedding, she would talk to him as if he were her chauffeur, not her husband. She had absolutely no respect for his family and thought that they were better for affording to throw a wedding at a hotel. Mind you, the hotel wasn't anything crazy, so I really don't know why they had to rub it in Zach's face. Poor Zach was left with a big decision to make and finally, he divorced her a few days later and finalized the divorce a month later. Now, a year later, he's married to a young beautiful doctor named Deena. What happened was awful. There is absolutely no doubt about it, but sometimes, it takes something like that to happen to know whether they are a good fit for you or not, and whether you guys should continue or not. I will admit I was sad when I heard about the divorce, and I know that there are two sides to everything, but I still think that it was for the best. Some things are just not meant to be.