Getting to the Church on Time

A Very Good Time

It’s a tribute to the depth of feeling within my marriage that it has survived the incidents where my temporally challenged wife causes us to be late. She grew up in a culture where timeliness was a seriously foreign concept while I’m a product of three decades of military promptness. Yesterday was a perfect example. We’d been looking forward to the wedding of a cousin’s son all year long. She told me the ceremony would be late in the afternoon and I told her I needed to see the invitation to plan the trip. I finally found the invitation hid amidst my son’s birthday gifts which we are delivering today.

The Beautiful Bride and a Very Lucky Groom

My Cousins' Kids

She was blissfully heading out for a late morning beauty salon appointment when I told her the ceremony was at 1pm and was nearly an hour away. She panicked but assured me she would be back by noon so we could leave on time. I don’t know why I continue to believe her in these situations. She also stopped answering her cell phone which is another of her “go to” techniques when running late. She finally pulled in at 1220 and still had to get dressed and apply makeup, usually an hour long exercise in its own right. I was thinking up excuses about why we missed the ceremony when she came back downstairs only twenty minutes later and looked like a vision.

Wife at Hotel Cousin Table

Of course I was too angry to speak at this point and merely mounted the car for what became an epically scorched trip through central Massachusetts. Whenever I’m driving 80 MPH and get passed like I’m standing still, it bothers me. Yesterday I was that guy. I was extremely fortunate law enforcement failed to check on our route yesterday because I literally did twice the speed limit on one stretch. I think this was the first time I ever did 90MPH of route 2; which, if you know the road is not for the faint of heart.

First Dance

We entered the church in time for half of the homily and all the important parts of the ceremony. We’d made the 57 minute trip in 35 minutes. At this point I started talking to my wife again. The wedding was everything we’d hoped it would be, although with global warming, New England churches, like this one, should think about air conditioning. We could barely hear the priest over the fans mightily failing to keep the heat at bay.

Wife Kidnapping the Nearest Baby as Usual

Repeatedly

Okay, She Wasn't the Only One

The reception was three hours after the ceremony so we had some time to kill. The hotel was superbly equipped with a lounge where we established a cousin table for catching up and starting on the day’s beer intake. My cousin/brother reported in with his room location which, per family tradition, was party central. It was here we learned the bride had opted for an open bar for beer and wine only which of course was right in our wheelhouse.

My Cousin and his Fantastic Family

Rare Break from Dance Floor

The reception was very nice with all the requisite traditions observed and a very active dance floor. We had a couple with a baby a little younger than our granddaughter that we kept stealing so they could have some time on the dance floor for themselves. The husband seemed a little embarrassed while the mother, more invested in some free time, dragged him to the floor. As usual I drank way too much beer, cousins, especially this one, seem to affect me that way. It probably is directly relational to how much fun I always have in their presence. My wife was her usual gracious self, tolerating my awkward gyrations on the dance floor. I am to dancing what she is to timeliness which may explain the toleration.

Wife on Dance Floor

Judgmental Granddaughter in L.A.

As with all good times events proceeded much too quickly and my wife was driving us home at a much more sedate pace than the earlier mad dash all too early. I found some evidence of the other events occurring across the country as my sister and brother in law linked up with my daughter and granddaughter for a weeklong visit. My granddaughter looked to be holding court at the restaurant. The Pittsburgh Roommate also blew into Keene for a beer soaked afternoon which I was loath to miss but family weddings trump in terms of priority. Yesterday was one of those times I wished I could be in three places at once. The one place I was limited to wasn’t so bad though, all due to the special people I got to hang out with.