By Emily Williams
Over the past few weeks, the April 4 wedding ceremony and celebration that Keri McLendon and Charles Hyde had been planning since their engagement in July slowly faded away as the coronavirus pandemic grew.
Keri, a CRNP at UAB’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Charles Hyde kept their original wedding date, but they adapted to a small ceremony attended by a few family members on the clubhouse deck in their Hoover neighborhood of Kirkman Preserve.
After the midday ceremony, as the couple rode off in a classic car, they were surprised to see many of their neighbors standing in their driveways to celebrate the newlyweds.
“We were completely not expecting this at all,” Keri said. “Our neighbors had posted something on the Facebook page about organizing a ‘Unity Day’ and would put up white decorations. We had no idea that they were going to be doing that for us.”
The community organized a surprise “parade” to make the day a bit more special despite the adjusted plans.
“We wanted all of our friends and family to be there, of course, but I think, in an odd way, having all of these people support us who we don’t know was really unique as well,” Keri said.
