50 ish today.. 40 ish yesterday
"May your life be long and happy,
And your cares and worries few;
May the many friends around you
Prove faithful, fond and true.
And may your life-long voyage
Be as happy and as free
As the dancing waves on the deep blue sea!"
My update of a Massachusetts whaler's toast to the married couple, Bridget and Erik.
Yesterday was a remarkable day! It was Bridget and Erik's wedding at the Cloisters, a castle in the woods. Let me give you a "blow by blow" of the day's events.
But first, for the benefit of future genealogists, let me mention the other folks that were there from the Bride's side of the invited guests:
Chris and Kathleen Vaughan (Father and Step Mother of the Bride)
Kaitlin and Bjorn May (Sister and brother in law of the Bride.)
Kathleen's mother and her date (name?)
Elizabeth and Will Murphy (Aunt and Uncle of the Bride)
Diane and John Cole (Aunt and Uncle of the Bride)
(segue: check out JohnnyCole on YouTube.. also John and his son, Jackson, have a gig coming up.. John on his guitar and Jackson on drum and piano... don't miss it!)
Joe Vaughan and Elaine Lottes (grandfather of the bride and his partner)
Dylan and Jackson Cole (Cousins of the Bride)
Sean Murphy and his date (name?) (Cousin of the Bride)
Adrienne Burrell (Cousin of the Bride)
Heather Clark and her date (name?) (Cousin of the Bride)
Danielle Clark and her son, Cameron Coates (Cousin and 2nd cousin of the bride)
Emily Leffler Schulman and daughter, Lily. (Elaine Lottes' daughter and granddaughter)
Mat Leffler Schulman and son, Luka. (Elaine Lottes' son in law and grandson.)
Kathleen and Reverend Scott Clagg (The Bride's mother and step father.)
Donna Tripp and Gil DeSantos. (Joe Vaughan's sister from New Bedford and her boy-friend.)
I'm sure that I've forgotten some people.. sorry about that.. but I'm an old dude and that is to be expected.
Meanwhile:
My grandson, Dylan, lugged in the container with the wedding gifts from the car in the parking lot.. he didn't even huff or puff.. I had almost died getting it into the car earlier. Dylan says that he lugs lots of heavier boxes everyday at his Home Depot job. (Jackson supervised.)
Close relatives sat on the stage and the other guests were in the audience. Interesting arrangement.
Bjorn accompanied Kathleen to the stage.
Mr. Fetzer accompanied his wife to the stage.
Somehow, Erik got to the stage. (I don't think there was a best man.)
The preacher lady performed a beautiful ceremony, and vows were exchanged. Lots of pictures.
The newly married couple kissed and were presented to the audience. (Handkerchiefs were wet.)
After an Open Bar and hors d'eouvres time (tasty meat balls and marvelous crab dip.. I congratulated the guy who made the crab dip and he said the secret is the sweet crab claw meat.. I wished that I could have sat there all day pigging out on the dip), .. but speech time had begun.
Chris gave a tear-jerking father speech, followed by one by Erik's sister, who is so happy to now have a sister, Bridget, to take the place of the sister that Erik was supposed to be when he was born. (Wet handkerchiefs continued.)
Next, it was my turn.. I started to talk about the picture of a beautiful red-head that her memere always had posted to the refrigerator.. and how, now, Bridget looked even more beautiful than that picture.. but I teared up (as I thought that perhaps her memere might just be watching from somewhere "above") and instead recited my New Bedford-type toast, followed by a question:
Now that Bridget and Erik have said their two word "I DO!" phrases, there is another two-word phrase that they need to be aware of, because the use of it can help keep their marriage peaceful for 80 or more years. I asked the audience what that phrase was... shouted back at me was: "I'm sorry!", "Love You!", "Help me!", and some others.. but, I did not hear the phrase that I wanted to hear: "Yes, Dear!" (Elaine taught me that, and I am grateful to her for that.)
After speeches, we partook of a nice meal of steak, green beans, garlic potatoes, and Caesar salad.. plus something else that I didn't try. (A very nice spread.. and the steak was raw, the way I like it.)
With our tummies full... the DJ began to entice folks to the dance floor.. lots of music. I made a boo-boo by saying I thought the singer was Jim Croce... it was Elton John.. I shut up for the rest of the music. Lots of dancing... I didn't know how good a dancer Dylan was. Amazing! Other very active dancers were my sister, Donna, Elizabeth and Diane... and all of the female Fetzer clan, including the little 3-year old charmer.
Elaine and I were able to dance (kind of) a couple of times.. we'll have to work on that. I was able to contribute to the Apron to dance with my granddaughter, Bridget.. but only for a very short time.. I am a very teary grandfather.
Elaine and I left after Erik and Bridget disappeared in a limo. All in all.. a wonderful happy day. One could not ask for a better one!
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