Grief, Grace, and a Cairo Wedding

Exhausted by grief and life, I’d already decided to miss my niece's wedding in Cairo. Then the phone rang. A story about saying yes anyway — whirling dervishes, hand-fasting ceremonies, doing my best at Arabic, and the surprising discovery that across ten countries and four continents, we're all the same.  Last October, I was running on empty. Six months after losing my mother, four months after clearing out her house, and still in the middle of planning where to scatter her ashes, I got word that my niece — living in Germany, engaged to a man from Egypt — was getting married in Cairo. I was thrilled for them. But at that moment, I just didn’t think I could summon the energy to attend their ceremony halfway across the world.  I’d already made up my mind to stay home and send my  husband as the family representative — until a phone call from my niece changed everything. In this episode, I share how a spontaneous "yes" turned into one of the most moving experiences of my life: officiating my niece's wedding at a 12th-century citadel in Cairo, surrounded by 100 guests from ten countries, a Zaffa dance procession, an actual whirling dervish, a Celtic hand-fasting ceremony, and my own valiant (if imperfect) attempt at an Arabic welcome. It's a story about grief and joy showing up in the same season of life, about the plans we make versus the ones that find us, and about a dance floor in Cairo that looked a lot like a dance floor back home. Support our sponsor: Interabang Books — interabangbooks.com Please watch my TEDx talk, How I Redeemed 35 Years of Regret; you can also view it at triciaroseburt.com Leave a comment and share it with your friends — it helps the story reach a broader audience! Subscribe to, review, and spread the word about No Time to Be Timid No Time to Be Timid is written and produced by me, Tricia Rose Burt. Our episodes are produced and scored by Adam Arnone of Echo Finch. Our executive producers are Amy Grant, Nancy Perot, and Sage Wheeler. Thanks also to the contributors to my Fractured Atlas fiscal sponsorship, which helps make this podcast happen. No Time to Be Timid is a presentation of No Time to Be Timid Productions.