I started my return to writing on a happy note talking about my brother's wedding. As such, I feel it is only appropriate, at least for today, to keep up the good spirits and keep the tone positive. I debating diving off the deep end and talking about a subject such as Orlando or Trump, but even just the mere thought of tackling those topics made me agitated. So those shall sit and simmer for now and instead back to the wedding I return.
Kelly's grandparents, her uncle and his family, are from Iowa and they all made the trip out to New Hampshire to celebrate the wedding. What wonderful people they all are. Personable, down to earth, possessing a love of conversation. It wasn't long before our two families were mingling, drinking together, and simply getting lost in learning about a new addition to our respective families. Kelly's Uncle, Mark, has a beautiful daughter named Katie. She is a teenager with long, flowing red hair and a sweet, caring demeanor. I didn't get to talk to her much at all over the course of the weekend, but I could see from her interactions with the other kids around, that she was a good person. At the reception after the wedding on Saturday, I guess our son became her dancing partner and her friend over the course of the evening. Katie almost in a sense took over the role of babysitter at times. There were a number of kids who were running around, playing together outside in the actual vineyard, and Katie kept an eye on them if a parent wandered off. For me, it was such a whirlwind being best man and trying to tend to family, friends, dancing, and being with my brother. I never got to spend more then 5-10 minutes in one place before I was being called to come talk or take pictures with someone else.
Towards the latter part of the evening when some partygoers had dissipated and the dance floor was packed, there was only one place to find me, and that was dancing. Concurrently, there was only one place to find my wife and kids as well, dancing. Our son and daughter would be all over the place, dancing as hard as the most seasoned adolescent or adult. Our son would go from my parents to my wife and I to Katie. Whenever my son wasn't with us or my parents, I could rest assured that he was dancing with Katie. It was so awesome to watch our kids jump into scenario they had never been in before and run with it. Leading up to the wedding, my wife and I were uncertain of how long our kids would last and it she would have to head back to the hotel early with them. True to family form, they love to party. Even our daughter who is approaching two and a half years old was almost unstoppable. You could see the exhaustion on her face, yet she couldn't stop moving to the music. Even if she was being held by someone dancing with her, the moment they stopped, she would start bouncing in their arms to the music. Despite the fun that we might be having at a party, all parties must come to an end. I vaguely remember when I was about the age of my kids at a wedding, crying when the music stopped and the party had to end. Well, our son had the same reaction, except it was a double whammy. When the music stopped and he found out that we would have to go and he couldn't go with Katie, he was crushed. He was having so much fun dancing that he didn't want it to end. He almost started crying before everyone left, the depression apparent in the look on his face.
He fell asleep on the car ride back to the hotel. When he woke up at the hotel, the first question out of his mouth was, "Where is Katie?" He couldn't fathom that she had to be elsewhere and that she would have to go home. He then wanted to get her address so he could send her a letter in Iowa. It was absolutely adorable. The next morning, we came down to breakfast and Katie and her family were already down there. After they were done with their breakfast, Katie stopped by our table to say goodbye to our son and thank him for being her dancing partner. As any four year old would do in that situation, he shoved a large pancake in his mouth with half of hanging out and blushed. I almost fell on the floor laughing it was so cute. Of course, after she left, the first words out his mouth were, "I want to say goodbye". Really! "She was just there, you shoved a pancake in your mouth so you couldn't talk, and now you want to say goodbye?" I thought to myself. There is your four and half your old. But, we have her address and I'm sure that we will be writing her a letter soon. Ah, the start of interest in others...can't wait for the teenage years.
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