The Trip Down the Aisle

Not my trip literally, but all the makings of Lavern & Andrew’s Wedding. We made it. It’s over, they’re married and happy and it was all beautiful. I meant to blog day after day, but never got around to it, so now, the abridged version:

Day 1: Getting to Florida
We booked our flights on Delta (yes I said flights. At the time I bought them unless I wanted to pay 500 bucks per person, we were connecting at least once. And we did… once in ATL going and coming). So bright and early on Friday morning, my baby came to meet me so that we could head off and get to the airport. All of that went smoothly. First leg was no problem. Managed to get someone to switch seats with me so that I could sit with my baby. It is the little things that make me giddy because that just set my mood for the rest of the day. Second leg was equally good. Got us seated together (the flights were so packed that when I originally booked them, the seating was bananas). We got one of those exit seats so there was plenty leg room. My baby had the window and I had the center seat.

The West Palm Beach leg was packed with white folks. Nary a brown face to be found, which gave me a pretty clear indicator of who all was in WPB. So this white man sits next to me. Looks young-ish. Not too much younger than I but definitely NOT older. I over hear him talking to his friend across the aisle about their exploits in ROTC, fire arms, different kinds of planes … before I drift to sleep on my baby’s arm. We wake up just in time for snacks to be served when the same young gentleman explains that he didn’t want to wake us cause we looked so peaceful. So they served our “food” and I whipped out one of my trusty wedding mags for entertainment and flipped through it with my baby. The gentleman speaks again asking us if we’re getting married and launching off into story upon story upon story of friends and frat of his that got married and had bachelor parties… etc. This guy was really trying to talk to someone, so I figured I’d listen. He wasn’t rude, just garrulous. He thanked me for listening to him half way through it all and explained that he was just trying to stay up because if he fell asleep now, he’d crash through the whole weekend. He said, “Besides, we’re all Greek here.” I looked at his cap – TKE. Cool! I was familiar with them from campus. He told us that there were AKAs and Kappas on his campus too. And he went off on stories about his frat and how things have changed, etc. Finally, he introduces himself. Robert Kennedy. “Nicely done,” was my response. I gave just our first names (cause I can’t be bothered with the butchering of my last name.” He’s an engineer from Alabama, 27 years old, well mannered, well spoken, really cute (Clink, I found someone for u… LMAO!) and my baby SWEARS he was trying to kick it to me. Pashaw. No such thing. I was just trying to stay up too.

So we get out at WPB and claim our SUV just in time for us to check into the hotel, take a 5-minute shower, RUSH out to the rehearsal, run through the wedding one time then over to Vernie’s new house for dinner. Her house was breathtaking. High ceilings, a pool in the backyard, dual vanities in the main bedroom, walk in closets, just gorgeous. Most of all what left a deep impression on me was her interaction with her sisters. I forget sometimes the family that folks have when they’ve moved away from them. Vernie had been away from them for a long time living up in NY. And until that day, I had not met any of them. I met them all this weekend, and I can TOTALLY understand now why she left NY. That is family. The folks she grew up with and struggled with and loved unconditionally. And now was her opportunity to be closer to them and be a part of them raising their families. So she snatched it up, packed her bag and headed south. I don’t blame her one bit. It’s hard to live without those ties in your life. After the dinner, it was back to the hotel to unwind and relax for Day II

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