Glendy gets married

Glendy met her husband, Joel, while working for Mayan Families.  Joel handles Mayan Families’ computers and organizes their masses of photos.  They fell in love and decided to get married.  They are expecting a baby in May.

Since Glendy was the ‘little mother’ of her brothers, the family situation will change a little now that Glendy have moves to her new home with her husband.  Glendy’s older siblings will take over caring for the younger brothers but the younger ones are welcome to spend time at Glendy’s new home.  The older brothers will remain in the rented home and care for the boys in the evenings and mornings and they will continue going to the old house after school to be with Mercedes until their brothers are home.  The monthly food donation this family receives will go home to the little boys instead of Glendy now.

Here is Sharon's account of the wedding:

Dwight and I were the padrinos for the wedding. Joel arrived with his family. He looked very handsome in his new suit...and more than a little nervous!  Then Glendy arrived in the Mayan Families car that had been hurriedly decorated with white balloons and streamers. Glendy was sitting in the front seat and it seemed like 20 of her family members were squished in the back seat.  Glendy looked very beautiful.  She was escorted by her uncle and her grandmother. Her eldest brother, Gerber, who has worked at a bakery for a long time, made several of the wedding cakes.  He had been up since 2 am baking.

First they had the civil ceremony which was performed by the mayor of the town. He does a very good wedding ceremony. He talks about the rights and responsibilities of the wife and the husband. He talks about how the society was/is very macho and how a husband should behave without being a machismo, how he should put his family ahead of his friends, etc. He adds a lot of humor to his wedding ceremony and has the audience often laughing and the couple relaxing a little.

After that ceremony we walked next door to the Municipal Salon which was festooned with white balloons and streamers.  Joel has a very large family and they had all pitched in with the decorating. Then began the Evangelical ceremony except that the pastor seemed to be missing and after waiting some time, fortunately, another one was found who could quickly fill in. Even though he had little time to prepare, this pastor had a least 10 pages of notes and was able to preach for an hour....and then he performed the religious ceremony.

After that Dwight and I made a very, very brief speech. The couple then stood and we wrapped the veil around Joel's shoulder, thus binding them together. Dwight pulled the string on the large paper mache bell and confetti poured over Joel and Glendy.  This was the time that the well wishers formed a long line waiting to give their gifts to the couple and give them their congratulations, hugs and kisses.

The last person to hug Glendy was her big brother, Gerber. It was a very emotional hug for them. They were both crying. Glendy would be leaving the home that they shared and moving in with her new family. Together they have been through the trauma of caring for their mother, losing her and raising their little brothers.

Then lots of plates of delicious Pepian chicken were served. Joel's mother and his aunts had been cooking for days.  Yesterday morning, I had a basket of tamales delivered to the door, then the family had a lunch for the closest family and friends – at least 50 people – before the wedding and then came the wedding dinner that fed at least 200 people. Weddings are not small in Guatemala...you have to invite all the family...and this includes a lot of extended family.

Music played, everyone ate dinner, then it was the time for the children look at all the balloons and try to find one to pull down, once one goes then everyone starts pulling at the decorations to get their balloon or keepsake to take home!  Lots of photos, cake and a very smiling, happy couple! 

-Sharon