There were a couple of notable surprises
yesterday surrounding our attendance at the Rhode Island wedding of one of our friends’
sons. The one that should go into some sort of record books was the fact we
arrived early at a formal event not related to the military. While in the military
I was able to curb my Favorite Panamanian cultural aversion to arriving
anywhere on time but those days are far behind us now. My wife’s required prep
phase for these type events usually requires a mad dash to the finish line. For
reasons I’m still trying to fathom my wife was ready ahead of schedule and
recommended we leave a little early for the hour+ long drive down to Rhode
Island.
 |
| You Knew if there was a baby in the Crowd it would End up in My Wife's Arms This one Belongs to the Groom's Brother |
The wedding and reception took place
at Quidnessett Country Club in North Kingston which was very posh but looked a
little soggy with the persistent rain. The ceremony had to be moved inside
which led to some sound issues as noise from another banquet in the adjoining
room bled over but the bride was beautiful, the love obvious, and we quickly
found ourselves in the middle of a well-planned reception. The bride and groom
are kind of a “small world”, cool happenstance. We are good friends of the
groom’s parents who were our next door neighbors when we lived in Rhode Island
in the early 90’s. Their three sons were veritable fixtures in our house during
that time. The gal he was marrying was related my cousin’s wife from Belchertown,
MA. This meant two wildly disparate factions of my social circles were colliding.
My cousin had met the parents several times
over the years and when he heard his wife’s relative was marrying a guy with a
Japanese father and Portuguese mother the light went on. We’ve had some fun
over the ensuing months with this incredible coincidence. We were seated at a
table with the sister of my cousin’s wife and having a lot of fun. My cousin
and his wife were not attending, or so we thought. After the dinner was served
and the dancing started I glanced over at the dance floor to see that very same
cousin and his wife sauntering across the floor with huge grins on their faces.
The sister breathed a huge sigh of relief because she had been instructed to keep
their attendance a secret from me.
 |
| My Cousin and I Last Night |
Their arrival made an already great
night even more special. Since I had to work today I was not imbibing any adult
beverages which was a first for me at a wedding reception (other than a very
dry Southern Baptist one I once attended) as well as being in the same room as
my cousin. We both inherited my father’s family seemingly professional level of
beer drinking acumen which goes into overdrive when we’re together. I think
this was also the first time I’d ever been dancing without some liquid courage because
you knew I was going to be out on the floor if my wife was in the same grid
square. I’ve always enjoyed hanging out with my cousin’s fantastic group of
hometown friends and to be surrounded by them and the groom’s very entertaining
family made the reception almost too much fun.
My wife was able to make the trip back
home from Rhode Island as a passenger which is another very rare occurrence
(see last Saturday night). We dropped our cousin off at his hotel on the way
home and I’m sure they continued partying into the night which made the work
week restrictions I operate under even more onerous. Nothing could dim the night
though – some surprises are of the most welcome sort possible. Finally today
marks the FBR’s first day in pre-school. I wasn’t able to connect with her over
the weekend so I can’t wait to get an update. Wingman sent along this picture
of her heading out on this new adventure.
 |
| Off to Pre-School |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECURRING
CHARACTERS
BRS
- Blog Reader the Sequel
- second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog
Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA –
Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law, formerly known both as MEF – Most Excellent Fiancé & MEG –
Most Excellent Girlfriend; Wingman
– my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2
– friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since
grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to
attract women; Pittsburgh College
Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two
close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd musquetera
(musketeer); Buddy – AKA the Wonder
Pooch – family dog, a black lab – hates squirrels, died in 2017; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy,
son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of
my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood
Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); First Friday – celebrations
to mark the First Friday of the Week; Excellent
Boss – my former direct boss at work; Deckzilla
Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every
Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with
demeanor issues
No comments:
Post a Comment