The Wedding

I received the frantic call on a Thursday afternoon. She sounded upset. "My wedding is on Saturday", she said, "I need an interpreter". I thought this was strange, but I listened."My fiance speaks very little English and we need somebody to interpret the ceremony for him, he doesn't want to miss anything".
I do Court and Medical interpreting, and in my line of work very few moments are happy or romantic, so this looked like a good opportunity to do something different.
While I was explaining a few things, and giving her my fee, I was thinking that he was probably marrying her to get his residency or something of the sort. Their pastor called me and he kindly faxed me the entire ceremony, which I proceeded to translate. Saturday came and I had a hard time getting dressed: I was not a guest, I was not family, I was not part of it in any way. But how wrong I was. I WAS PART OF IT, a big part.
The wedding was at their house. When I got there the bride was inside getting dressed, with her mom and sisters. The kitchen was full of food, there were flowers and happiness everywhere. The groom was outside in the backyard with his family. A handsome man wearing a white suit, a bright blue shirt and a wonderful smile. I introduced myself and was greeted like a rock star, everybody thanking me for being there. I was surprised to realize that this wasn't a marriage of convenience. There was true love here. I heard their story, and I saw how the two families were happy for the couple and how much they all liked each other. Americans and Mexicans, drinking, laughing, sharing the moment.
The pastor was a young man and this was a first for him also. We agreed in a few things. The entire ceremony would be whispered to the groom, his vows would be spoken by me in English and the bride's in Spanish for everyone to hear. At this point I was more nervous than the bride.
It was a beautiful ceremony, they looked at each other with total adoration and when they said their vows  there wasn't a single dry eye in the garden, including mine.
There were pictures, videos and hugs. I had a glass of champagne and left feeling light and happy.
Driving to my house I suddenly realized that I was forever linked to these people. I was in the pictures, I was in the video of the ceremony - the Bride, the Groom...and the Interpreter.

On being an interpreter

I am a certified court interpreter with 13 years of experience. First as a community interpreter, then medical and court. I love my job because of the variety of cases and the people involved, but sometimes I get out of an assignment and I feel a heaviness in my heart that is difficult to explain. 

My job has taken me to the maximum security area of the jail, to an operating room, weddings, and even a bug infested house. Friends ask me if I have ever felt threatened. The answer is no, I believe that if you treat somebody with respect you will get respect back. 

One thing I have to mention is that I receive hundreds of blessings a month, and that feels good.

I started making an effort to observe everything and everybody around me and started writing about what I saw. Finally, and with a little push from my friends and family I decided to share my stories.