Connecting at Disney World

Last weekend, my boyfriend Steve and I attended a wedding at Walt Disney World. The groom, John, is a longtime friend of Steve's. They go back to the sixth grade in Edison, NJ. It's been said that in life, it's the journey, not the destination, that counts. Yet in John's journey with his bride Diana, Walt Disney World turned out to be a glorious destination.

While Steve keeps connected with John, our visit to Disney was the first for both of us in many years. It was a reconnecting. We toured Epcot. There, to borrow Prince's words, we saw the entire world in a day - despite losing an hour to a Central Florida monsoon. We capped the day with a great fireworks display in the Epcot lagoon. It is true - night gives us the opportunity to see how great the day has been.

And while our day had been one of travel, tiredness and even an overall terrificness, being with Steve and the fireworks reminded me how lucky I am. The next day, us two intrepid souls visited the Disney MGM Park. We saluted Hollywood and the cinematic storybook. And the next day, we were enthralled with a storybook of reality - John and Diana's wedding. Our weekend was a wedding in many senses - not just the union between two people, but a union of young and old, and of nations. We mingled with young families and entire youth groups, including a memorable one from Brazil.

In the crowd waiting to board the bus that took us back to our hotel, we became pleasantly entangled with a group of young Brazilians. I think at that moment, we were the only ones speaking English. And yet in that moment, a language of togetherness was being spoken. It is a language that most of the world is fluent in. And it joins the language of love and commitment that enraptured us in John and Diana's wedding and reception in the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World.