And that somebody would be me! I never could have seen this a year ago, when I was still waiting to convert and had been waiting for several years. But I was finally in New York and had a great beit din! And things went smoothly, and I converted in January. I met my chosson in March, and here we are today! Third time was the charm, and I only went out with five dates total. I know almost no one is this lucky (even though I have always questioned the idea of a shidduch crisis). Everyone knows at least one person who rushed into marriage immediately after converting or becoming a baal teshuvah, dating only one or two people. I generally don't recommend that method, but somehow it worked for me. My chosson likes to say that Hashem was just waiting for me to become halachically Jewish. I usually don't buy into those kinds of hindsight rationalizations, but even I have to admit this is a compelling argument in our case. Ever the skeptic, I've always doubted the idea of "falling head over heels" or being certain that a significant other is "right." I always saw it as infatuation (ever the Negative Nancy, I suppose). But I guess I have to doubt my doubts because by dating in an orthodox way, we were able to see very quickly what a good long-term match we are. It's almost creepy. Of course, he calls it awesome. The skeptic reframes it as "This is suspiciously awesome." He's slowly convincing me :)
I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I'll be thinking of you when I daven. And hey, this wedding might bring Moshiach, and all the hurdles and bad experiences for converts will no longer be a problem! Today, we've got the whole spectrum coming together to celebrate, from non-Jews who've never met orthodox Jews (other than me) to Satmar chassidim! (Though I admit that a Jets versus Sharks throwdown between the Satmar and Lubavitch guests would make for more interesting wedding pictures.) Also, there will be a large contingent of the #Twitpacha, most of whom I'll be meeting for the first time today!
Exclamation points!!!1! Did I mention that this is me today? My brain stopped working about three days ago.
In the soon-to-be-eternal words of my dear friend Tzipi, "Ermagerd! Werdig day!"
