30th Anniversary Party – Panama Day 4

Wife and I Dancing to "Endless Love" - Our Song at the Party

Today was the anniversary party and one of the main reasons we traveled to Panama at this time of year.  In addition to celebrating our thirtieth anniversary my wife’s parents are shortly celebrating their sixtieth anniversary so it was supposed to be a combined party.  Unfortunately my mother in law neglected to tell her husband about it until a couple of weeks ago.  He flatly stated that they were too old to be celebrating and that it was a dumb idea.  I think he was more pissed about not being told ahead of time and that falls directly on my mother in law.  So it became strictly our party which is fine – we still served beer.  My wife’s sister, who is a real card, volunteered to host the party at her house.  We all went up there in the morning to help get the house ready for the fifty guests scheduled to show up.  We were all finished and back at my wife’s parent’s house to rest up.  It turned out to be a good thing.  I had not been feeling well since arriving in Panama and things had been kind of break neck until that point.  I had been pulling a fever for the last couple of days but didn’t say anything because I’M ON VACATION!  When we got back to the house I took a three and a half hour nap and the fever broke during the rest.  I was ready to party.  We heard from Maria’s sister that power had been knocked out at her place due to some unusually high winds.  This had the potential for disaster because the water supply (read toilets) required electricity to operate.  Panama is also not renowned for quick reactions to power outages, especially on Saturdays.  As we headed up we loaded a bunch of buckets of water to keep the toilet operating.  Power came on about 15 minutes before the party started so I take back my unkind words about Panamanian reactions.  The party was everything I hoped it would be.  My daughter made us some CDs with music from the time my wife and I were dating.  It was disco inferno time in Panama but everyone had a great time dancing.  The CDs were a huge hit.  My wife even got to deliver lessons on the Hustle to the assembled females.  My wife’s family is extremely special.  Her mother has two sisters and three brothers.  The resulting brood of cousins generated by that generation reminds me of my father’s family and the closeness of that group.  We even had some friends from the US who were visiting Panama surprise us.  It was a great night and I got to dance with my wife to some of the music of our youth.  We were a little (lot) slower than when we first heard it but I think we enjoyed it this time even more.  Tomorrow it’s off to the beach.

Wife and I with Some Poser

My Mother in Law on Far Right with her Brothers and Sister -
Producers of Fine Cousins