Party Travels

I’m kind of sneaky glad work has arrived to replace the hectic pace of the past weekend.  I have one more long drive tonight (through my arch nemesis – Connecticut) but the sedate rhythms of employment have supplanted the weekend’s demands for forward motion.

Bachelorette MEF and Daughter

My daughter limped in yesterday afternoon from her exertions at the MEF’s bachelorette party.  From her somewhat blurred recall, the outstanding young ladies of the MEF’s entourage properly honored that fantastic young lady in preparation for the impending nuptials.  She has a habit of inspiring the best out of people.

Keene Friend 2 at the Grill

We hoped our daughter would accompany us to a party up in Keene but she was in deep recovery mode after destroying a dance floor the night before.  The apple did not fall far.  We were heading up to Keene for the birthday + sendoff party for the outstanding daughter of one of my high school classmate’s (Keene Friend 2) girlfriend.  She’s leaving shortly for a job in Argentina and as an ardent salsa dancer we knew she had to meet my wife before she left.

Driving a total of three hours for a two hour party seems like a lot but the family motto is probably – we will travel to party.  Predictably my wife and the daughter got along famously right from the beginning.  By the end of the party they were salsa dancing together on the lawn.  It was a fun, low key gathering of people I didn’t know beforehand for the most part but really enjoyed meeting.  Good people seem to attract other good people.  Keene Friend 2 ably manned the grill and we sat in the shade of their house as the daughter circulated through the crowd and along with her mother made everyone feel welcome. 

The Gathering

It was kind of bittersweet as we celebrated the daughter’s birthday but also knew she would be heading the deep, deep south for an undetermined length of time.  I’m a firm believer that young people should travel the world when young enough to enjoy it and learn that different is necessarily wrong.  That doesn’t make it any easier on a parent having to say goodbye as a child heads out on that adventure.

The Departing Daughter With Her Mother at Her Side Addresses the Crowd

I got a chance to say hi to Keene Friend 2’s parents who I hadn’t seen in decades.  Since this was a school night my beverage intake was limited to water but that didn’t dim the fun meter at all.  I even joined a conversation in Spanish with the daughter’s high school Spanish teacher, something I usually prepare for with a couple beers.  He even complimented me on my Spanish which was probably more polite than accurate. 

The Dancing Girls

Keene did its part as well, providing the normal feeling of coming home, well worth the time spent getting there and back.  On our way out of town we stopped by Keene Friend 1’s house but he was out of town on one of his rare days off and we also drove by a couple houses for sale.  My wife somewhat snarkily observed that this was one of the rare times she hadn’t been required to drive home from Keene.  It’s scary how fast time is proceeding towards hopefully a full time move back to Keene and less long drives.  

Kind of a Cool Touch
Everybody at the Party Had a Picture Taken with Her
Through a Picture Frame - My Wife and I Here