A Global Routes “Co-leader Marriage”
Sunday, June 26, 2016 was a beautiful early summer day, the kind on which many couples across the country and the world chose to exchange vows and commit to each other for life, by forging mutual bonds of love and loyalty. One such ceremony took place between our two Caribbean Trip Leaders – Ali Hodges and Max Mor. But I don’t wish to mislead our readers – this union was definitely platonic in nature. Rather, Max and Ali made a commitment to one another not as partners, but as co-leaders of Global Routes’ Grenadines Trip taking place July 10 to August 7, 2016.
The silly but sweet mock celebration took place amidst Windsor Mountain’s first Sunday Morning Meeting of the summer season, just two days before campers were to arrive. Taya Win, Windsor Mountain Music Department Head and ordained minister, faux-joined the couple while offering sage advice, joyful quips, and some skillful strumming of his guitar.
The “bride” and “groom” shared vows they had written themselves, after racking their brains and hearts in solitude to best show appreciation to their co-leader in front of the Windsor Mountain Community.
Ali began: “Max, hearing that you’d be my co-leader let me know I’d be supported and respected. Every time I’d ever met you, you’d been kind and level-headed and adored by everyone you worked with. I knew I’d have a well of knowledge to draw from about international group travel…”
She ended, “I choose you, Max Mor, to be my ‘trip husband,’ from now until August 7th, when we return and the kids help us get an annulment.”
Max responded with a similar mix of humor and heartfelt gratitude: “Ali, since the moment I met you, I knew I wanted nothing more than to have 14 teenagers with you, and raise them on a tropical island.”
He continued: “Your dedication to education, in all of its funny forms, inspires me, and pushes me to reexamine and refine my own skills. Our children will be so lucky to have such a complex, multitalented, yet singularly driven role model…”
He vowed: “I will stay up with you, transfixed, long into the night, gazing deeply into the budget until it is balanced.”
And he finished: “Most importantly, I will be fully present in every moment, good, bad, ugly, sticky, and salty, as we drag our children up the mountain of self actualization, and create some real good in this world.”
While it was of course all an elaborate joke, the ceremony was also a beautiful team building activity in line with the broader Global Routes philosophy and mindset. The extensive orientation that Global Routes co-leaders undergo in preparation for our trips is part of the winning recipe of our success as a student travel organization. While a “fake wedding” may seem incredibly strange to some, it is these kinds of activities that help foster a rock-solid foundation on which our trip leaders guide our students to foreign countries with impeccable confidence and trust in one another and the mission at hand.
Please check back in for more exciting updates on our 2016 Grenadines trip!
