This past weekend, we were fortunate to attend the wedding celebration of Travis’ brother, Brock, and his beautiful bride, Michelle. I call it a wedding celebration because they actually eloped on a gondola in Italy. I have no idea if that was as romantic as it sounds, or if it was funny because of the logistics of being on a boat, tipping and sloshing. Either way, it’s cool! This past weekend was out chance to join in the celebration. It was a beautiful, but low key affair. I don’t have any pictures because my camera on my phone is broken, which has made me realize that I use the camera more than I use the phone, so it’s time to upgrade from my iPhone 8.

During the early time of the wedding, we just visited and mingled. I was fortunate to have all my kids and their significant others in attendance. As time marches on, this is what brings me the most joy, gathering with my core 6 and other family and friends. It was casual seating, so as the time to dine drew close, we moved to the tables, which were arranged in four long group tables. It was in a Chicago Restaurant, so long and narrow is the order of the day. After we all settled in, Travis noticed that our kids sat with their cousins. It was like a blast from the past with the kids at the kid table, now by choice, and not really kids anymore. As I looked around at our table, I realized that we sat at the next generation kids table, as much as we could. We were with Trav’s brother and cousins, although Trav’s other siblings were with their spouses, his parents, and a smattering of Michelle’s family at the head table. It still struck me as funny to notice that we mostly sat amongst our kid table assignments, long after the relegation had ended. 

It turns out, the early family designations, set up to give parents a momentary break from their kids during a meal, cements the bonds over the years. These are the folks we are drawn to, our contemporaries. Even though I didn’t grow up with Trav’s cousins Tim and Jennifer, I know them and they accept me into the middle aged kids table. Their mates, Sheila and Adam, rounded out our collection. 

One other thing I noticed is that I need to avoid mirrors while learning Serbian dancing (not sure this will ever be a specific future problem for me). Michelle is Serbian and her friends and family members led us in a traditional, exhausting Serbian dance. I kept passing a mirror on the wall during the dance. I didn’t like that mirror. I’m still going to dance, but in the future, I will stay away from mirrors, and their unpleasant realities. The jumping, middle-aged, red-faced, overweight person in that mirror was certainly not me. In my head, I was knocking it out of the park. I think I’ll stay in my head. 

Have a great week you kids! We’re only old if we believe it. And if there are mirrors.