I Suck At Wedding Anniversary Celebrations

Saturday kicked off the in-law weekend. In addition to the in-laws, Saturday also happened to be the Gay Pride parade and Quincy's Flag Day parade. Given the three choices: in-laws, the gay pride parade, or Quincy's flag day parade, I would say that the gay pride parade seemed the most exciting. And really, what is not exciting about shirtless ripped men parading around in stiletto heels and lesbians on their custom motorcycles? Unfortunately, that event was not on the scheduled agenda for the day.

Instead, the day began with a wedding anniversary. Too bad I suck at wedding anniversary celebrations. Karen's cousin (also named Karen) organized a surprise wedding anniversary party for her parents. To clarify, the party was not for my Karen's parents, but Karen's cousin's parents... which are actually Karen's great aunt and uncle (Frieda and Charlie). Frieda and Charlie have been married for an extraordinary length of time: 50 years. As far as older couples go, they are one of those cute older couples that you couldn't be more happier for. I can only hope that I can reach the 50 year milestone with Karen.

Needless to say, Karen's cousin Karen did an amazing job. Frieda and Charlie were absolutely stunned and surprised by the party. For anyone curious, the party was held at the Neighborhood Club in Quincy. Relatives from all over came up for the wedding anniversary. Truth be told, it was a great party. Of course, the numerous whiskey sours may have also helped numbed the pain. Just kidding.

Following the party, Karen and I picked up our baby daughter (Briana) from my mother for the after party. And by "after party", I mean the gathering at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine). With her cousin (SJ) from Georgia and her other cousin (Billy) from Iowa up for the anniversary celebration, Janine wanted to have them over to hang out and catch up on things. Plus, apparently the cousins wanted to meet our Karen and my latest addition to the family: Briana. So Janine had a bunch of people back at her house. In addition to Karen, Brian, my favorite brother-in-law (PJ) and I, those people included her Lowell cousin (Karlene), Karlene's husband (Tommy), SJ, Billy, Billy's new fiancee (Kathy), the youngest cousin from Quincy (Laura), Laura's significant other (Derek), and Janine's BFF (Gretchen).

It was definitely an interesting time at Janine's. I don't know which is more comical: the fact that everyone (except for me of course because I'm heartless and cruel) was practically in tears at one point, or the fact that Janine was on a 10 second delay or something. Laura had started reminiscing about her grandfather and Nana's house and just started tearing. Naturally, since my in-laws cry at the drop of a pin... that led to everyone else crying. Moments later when someone brought up the fact that they were all crying, Janine was surprised because she had no idea.

The incident almost reminded me of my friend (Kelley), who likewise has been known to have moments of "Wouldn't it be cool if... Oh my god!" Basically, the moment refers to having prior knowledge of something... only to be surprised to learn about that something (even though there was prior knowledge of it). It's almost like having short term memory.

Needless to say, I got a chuckle when Janine was surprised because I could have sworn she was sitting right smack dab in the same room where all the crying was taking place... albeit she may have been holding Briana.

Anyway, it was a fun time at Janine's. For Kathy, it was her first time meeting all of us, so it was a quick glance into what her future relatives will be like. She must be thrilled.