Uri and Pearly Get Married

When I found out that I’d gotten this fellowship with the Clinton Foundation through the Global Health Corps, the first thing that raced through my mind was that I’d be leaving my boyfriend, Alex, my mother, my brothers, Taylor and Blake, and good friends for a year.  The second thing I realized was that I’d miss the wedding of my cousin, Uri Ferruccio, to his fiancé, Pearly Shah.  They’re getting married tomorrow, September 17, in Charlotte.

Uri and I grew up together, running around Kerr Lake and his parents’ cabin in the deep woods of Afton, North Carolina.  A little more than a year older than me, we – along with our cousin David – were always together when we were young.  When they got old enough, his sister Kyra (herself now married) and my brother Taylor (a Park Scholar at NC State – love you bro) brought up the rear of our little crew.  Although we spent our fair share of time battling monsters in Sonic the Hedgehog on the old Sega Genesis, we were usually found outdoors – tromping through the sandy gullies of our Aunt Laura Bennie’s  land, swinging from thick vines in the woods surrounding his house, or playing literally all day in the warm July water on the lake.

 

When the time for college came around, he enrolled at UNC Chapel Hill and kicked its ass, traveling to India and China and learning Mandarin and Arabic.  He won a Fulbright to go study in China for a year, writing Facebook updates from a remote, unguarded part of the Great Wall.  He’s just that kind of guy. After the wedding, he’ll be beginning his graduate degree in Asian Studies at Harvard – on a scholarship.  His fiancé Pearly is extremely remarkable in her own right.  A graduate of UNC’s dentistry school (the best in the country), she’s preparing to start clinical work in Boston.  I wouldn’t be surprised if, in five years, they’re on a local Boston magazine’s cover as “Most Fascinating Couple of the Year”.

Throughout the time I’ve known Uri and Pearly as a couple, I have always been incredibly impressed by their steady and unwavering commitment to each other, even when they’ve had to live apart.  And lived apart they have; after college, Uri moved to DC to pursue job opportunities, only to win the Fulbright and move to the opposite side of the globe for a year.  Throughout it all, they have made it work.  And I am thankful they have, because not only is Pearly an amazingly smart, accomplished, kind, and beautiful addition to our family, their year apart is serving as the model for my own year abroad.  “If Uri and Pearly did it, we can do it.”  “Uri’s year away is almost over and it’s like he just left – it won’t be so bad!”

 

I know they likely won’t have time to read this before their wedding tomorrow, but I’d just like to say:

Uri and Pearly, you two are wonderful together, right for each other, and an inspiration to Alex and me.  I wish more than anything that I could be there tomorrow to lead my family in the baraat – you know I’d be the first in line!  I can’t wait to see the incredible things you guys produce in your life together – from amazing careers to beautiful babies.  I love you both and wish you a joyful, exciting, and prosperous life together.

Love,

ali