Three years ago my mother and I flew into Cincinnati from different states, arrived within minutes of each other, picked up the rental car and drove to Dayton for a family wedding. My cousin Kathy's oldest daughter, Kelli, was marrying Jared. Or, as joked about at the reception, Barbi and Ken finally got married. Yep, both are that beautiful outside as well as inside.
Recently Skipper -that was Barbi's little sister's name, wasn't it? She's packed away in the basement with all my Barbi stuff and it's doubtful that her name is tatoo-ed on her anywhere. I digress...sorry.
Casey, Kelli's little sister, married her Ken, better known as Lucas recently. The trip to Dayton was made for this wedding too. Only this time, instead of flying alone to OH, John & I drove as did my parents and Mike (my brother) with his family. Being that we no longer live in the same state, the wedding served as a family reunion on various levels.
Back in...oh...the early 80's, the Fletcher kids and their families would gather over Thanksgiving at Olin's house to celebrate Christmas together. The Fletcher kids are my mom, my aunt Midge and my uncle Ode/Olin. These gatherings were filled with lots of laughter and love.
I have great memories of those Thanksgiving Christmases - especially how the girls - then the girls meant Kathy and Cindy's daughters, Kelli, Casey and Jordan -loved Mike and couldn't be separated from him. We joked about Mike and his harem.
Flash forward to 2009 and it was Mike's son, Mason, with the girls. Ellie and Grace love him. Add Lydia, his sister, to the equation et voila! The harem lives.
Another fond memory is hearing Kelli's ear-splitting squeal of pure joy when she opened her present from me one year. I'd seen a makeup/vanity set for little girls in the store and couldn't resist getting it for her. Kelli was thrilled. Her face shone, her smile was two miles wide. My heart was happy to have made her so happy.
Unbeknownst to me, however, I'd just given Kelli the one thing that Kathy and Jeff were using to get her to be good until Christmas. I'm sure Kelli was a little angel, but, honestly, I don't care if she was or not. Seeing her joy was worth it.
Other memories of the families together are from trips to the beach. Mom and Midge would guy watch while Cindy and I dutifully worked on our tans, sitting up only when our mother's deemed a guy good looking enough for us to sit up and take notice.
My side of the family started what I hope will be a long held tradition last year by renting a house at the beach. We're going again this year and as I write this I can't help but wonder if one day Kristi and I will be scoping and pointing out the good looking guys for our daughters. Or if Kristi will be trying to keep the older girls away from Mason!
Yes, weddings are good fun. They're good for creating new memories as well as giving cause for remembering the good old days. And if you have children, I've discovered, they're also good places to dance til you drop without anyone paying particular attention to you as long as you're accompanied by a child.
You see, I love to dance. Always have. Always will. Was even on a high kick drill team in high school. Think Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall only with teenage girls in knee high white boots and short uniforms...in this case made of red corduroy with white fringe.
Anyway........despite or in spite of my love to dance, my best dancing is done in the living room with no one else home as I am extremely self-conscience about getting out on a dance floor and actually dancing. Someone might be watching! At Kelli's reception, I only worked up enough nerve to dance to one song. YMCA. Yep. YMCA complete with arm movements.
At Casey's wedding, however, holding Grace and dancing with her in my arms allowed me to dance until til my arms ached from holding her. Who knew kids could be freeing? Well...sorta. Kinda. In a way. You know.
So, a big thanks to Casey for asking Ellie and Grace to be flower girls. And letting their parents tag along.
Enjoy the photos. Jennifer
No comments:
Post a Comment