The Day

The Wedding Party

Well, I finally made it to a church in Nashua, thirty five years after I was first scheduled to.  I was engaged to my college sweetheart who hailed from Nashua so it was kind of spooky on some levels to pass by so many remembered landmarks from that time in my life.  The wedding reception was literally yards from where she used to live.  That heavy dose of nostalgia was powerless to dim in any way shape or form what will definitely go down as one of the best weddings ever.

Grand Slamming With the PanaGals

I’m not anywhere capable enough as a writer to adequately describe yesterday and do justice to how much fun it was.  I’ll give it a shot but understand going in that it was so much more than you can imagine. 

The Happy Couple

My wife and daughter abandoned the hotel early in the morning for hairdresser and makeup appointments which left me in charge of the PanaGals.  We were casting about for an appropriate breakfast site when I stumbled across a Denny’s so the PanaGals were exposed to the grand slam breakfast for the first time.  They left with a determination to explore ways to entice Denny’s to open in Panama and then they went shopping.

Just Before He Saw his Wife for the First time Yesterday

Since my wife’s navigational abilities were not up to the task to finding her way back to the hotel the Keene Friend and I journeyed across Nashua to guide her back.  We had just arrived back at the hotel when she gasped and said she’d left a needed makeup kit back at the ex-MEF’s parents’ house; so I was called upon to make my way back through picturesque Nashua once again.  My frame of mind was heading a little south at this point.

The Bride Was Impossibly Beautiful

There was the typical mad dash to get everybody dressed and transported to the church but we arrived on schedule which is noteworthy given the crowd I was travelling with.  I should mention at this point that my wife looked absolutely spectacular in her gown.  I was wearing my dress uniform for probably the last time in my life and took a little bit of pride that it still fit pretty well.  My son looked dashing in his tux and we were sitting in the second row for the ceremony.

I was looking at him when he first saw his bride in her wedding dress.  His face immediately dissolved and he struggled to maintain his composure.  One of those rare moments in life when you witness true love expressed so eloquently yet wordlessly. 

The bride was radiant and floated through the entire day in an almost regal calm. 

We rushed back to the hotel to board a chartered bus to the reception and the fun began almost immediately.  We spent the majority of our time on the dance floor where the PanaGals gave a good accounting of themselves. The mother son dance was one of the highlights of the night as their week-long series of practice was redeemed in full.  The masks and hats came out for the festival dance and a conga line led by the bride and groom had most of the wedding guests bobbing around the floor.  There were too many moments as friends and family swirled around this party that rushed to the finish line before anyone was prepared to stop. 

The Bus Headed to the Reception

It seemed we had just arrived when the lights came up signaling a return to the hotel.  The wedding party joined us on the bus and there were competing Panamanian and American songs sung for the entire trip back.  In some sort of arcane ceremony the Cantankerous Friend was married to one of the PanaGals on the ride back to the hotel. Since everybody was still in a party mode and unwilling to listen to their exhausted legs we took over the hotel bar until they closed around 1am.  We then set up shop in my cousin’s room where the after party continued.  Wedding guests appeared and disappeared throughout the early morning hours as we made serious inroads on my cousin’s beer supplies while reliving the highlights of a nearly perfect day.

Wife and The PanaGals

Wife and Her Sisters

Wife and I

Daughter and Wing Man

The Cantankerous One’s marriage crashed and burned and he mysteriously disappeared into the night at some point.  The hotel security, already well acquainted with him (but that’s another story) came by looking for him.  He wasn’t answering his door and his car’s alarm was going off.  Everybody in the room burst into laughter at this point.

The First Dance

Around 2:30am we had fully eradicated my cousin’s beer reserves and reluctantly said good night.  Because that’s exactly what it had been, one of those days I’ll remember for the rest of my life.  This is definitely the best weekend ever part 2.  I hope you experience the kind of day we just experienced, I think the best word to use - sublime.

My College Roommate and His Bride

Sister and Brother in Law - Danced the Night Away

Mother Son Dance Spectacular

I Didn't Ask

Back at The Hotel - Refusing the Give up the Night

My Daughter in Law with the PanaGals

The Hotel Bar - The Cantankerous Friend with his Brief Wife

The Final After Party