Today I’m celebrating forty years of marriage to my Favorite Panamanian. Exactly forty years ago her dad accompanied her down the aisle of her hometown church and nothing has ever been the same. While we had to tank our planned big party, we weren’t going to let the day pass without some recognition. A ruby ring I purchased a couple years ago magically made its debut this morning before we went to mass at the very same church. It was a lot less scary than that March 6 so many years ago. It was just me and five fellow lieutenants for the groom’s side of the wedding. This is something I’m still trying to live down with my family, especially Great Aunt.
We were sitting in the same pews those lieutenants
and their dates, including a gal I had dated (we lived dangerously in those
single lieutenant days), sat in. My mother-in-law arranged for our anniversary
to be recognized and blessed during the service so we’ve got that going for us.
I was new to the whole Latin tardiness culture so I was getting a bit worried
back in 1982 when the time for the wedding arrived and there were only about twelve
people in the church. Back in Same Church 40 Years Later
40 Years Ago - A Little more Nervous
The pews eventually filled up and after
a fifteen minute wait my bride and her dad made an appearance. My wife hates all
her wedding pictures because of a very unfortunate hairstyling incident. I was fortunate
to have seen the suddenly very permed hair of my wife the night before otherwise
I would have thought the wrong girl had showed up. I understood about a quarter
of the words that were being thrown at me but I did say “si” in all the right
places. That got us to the reception where my lieutenant buddies were the stars
of the show while I was forced to sit in a throne next to my bride while older
Panamanian ladies came up and made impassioned speeches. I had no idea what was
going on but later I learned they were charismatic Christian friends of my
newly acquired mother-in-law who were blessing our union. Those Lieutenants
My Brother in Law and Tia Loca 40 Years Ago Brother in Law and his Wife Today Wife and Her Dad
Last evening my brother-in-law took the family
out for dinner to celebrate. We went to a new Italian restaurant that we’d
never been to before and it was awesome. I hadn’t had lasagna in years and it
was fantastic. The company, predictably, was even better as we laughed throughout
the dinner. We were only missing Tia Loca and her usual altercations with her
older brother. While the celebration was a lot more low key than we had planned
for prior to Covid it was still appropriate on a certain level because it was
with all my Panamanian family. We certainly missed having those lieutenants
around to help though. Same Spot Today
Dinner Last Night
RECURRING CHARACTERS
BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first
granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best
Family Athlete - my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; 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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten
whom I reunited with after many years; 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); Riggins - also known as
the Grandpuppy, son's dog; 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; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her
single days in Brooklyn
A never forgotten moment for any of us :)
ReplyDeleteTerry