Isabel stalls wedding

Staff

Published Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Suffolk News-Herald

Hurricane Isabel is expected to cause a great deal of dismay today, but her interference into the lives of Cathy Pope and Darren Moseley started the moment she was predicted to make landfall today.

Pope and Moseley had chosen to be married today; choosing this date because it is Moseley's birthday.

As dear old Mother Nature would have it, they were forced to cancel those plans. Instead, they will spend the hours waiting out Isabel's wrath at the home of Bettie Pope, Cathy's mom.

"We expect to have a lot of family and friends there because they had already planned to attend our wedding," said Cathy Pope. "We were to be married at Lakeview Baptist Church but we just don't want to be married on a day like this!"

Moseley, an IHop employee, said he is extremely disappointed, especially because he wanted to make Cathy his wife on his birthday.

"Now, we'll wait until Saturday, the 20th, to be married if the hurricane will allow it," said Moseley. "We talked it over with my parents, Benjamin and Ernell Moseley, and with Cathy's mom and her dad, Moses Townes, and we will treat Saturday as my birthday and our wedding day."

As for Isabel, she is not only bringing plenty of wind and water this way, but also fear in the hearts of the couple as well as many others.

"I've never been in a hurricane before and it could tear up our apartment on Wellons Street," said Pope, a daycare provider at Quality Care Daycare. "We have a lot of nice things there... but, I guess the most important thing is that we all, and I do mean everyone, come out of this alright."

Moseley said his parents suffered through the flood of Franklin during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

"Fortunately, my parents were safe but they lost everything they owned in the flood," said Moseley. "They are still trying to get their lives back together and I just don't want to see anyone go through that, especially since we are just trying to get started."

Others have also prepared for the hurricane in many ways including making sure they have prescription medications to weather the storm.

Linda Lathrop, administrative assistant for Lakeview Pharmacy, said there has been an increase in the number of prescriptions filled each day since Monday.

"The first real push was Monday and it has been steady since then," said Lathrop. "People just want to be sure they have medications and that they don't run out because they don't know what Thursday and Friday will be like."

As for Lathrop, she spent this week in preparation for Isabel. She's picked up every loose object from her yard, and made sure that all her lawn furniture and other items are safely stored. She's also stocked up on water, foods and other items to wait out the storm.

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