I cried.

“I cried! It was so beautiful. My daughter, granddaughter and I arrived just in time to obtain some good seats. We were at a City Park in Cocoa, Florida. Our seats were under a very high, arched roof. It was too high to protect us from any rain, if there was any wind. Barry went past us around noon, but on the other side of Florida. We experienced a lot of rain last night. It quit this morning, but kept returning as showers. Strong wind gusts kept hitting us all day. Very shortly all the seats were filled and many people had to stand in back.

We were seated on what seemed to be an elevated area. A large, sunken field was directly in front of us. Thick walls bordered both sides and at far end was the Indian River, or the Inland Waterway. The large field was filled with a lush, thick, dark green, Florida grass that any homeowner would be proud to have as a lawn. In front of us was a U-shaped trellis with a number of balls formed from flowers. They were on the ground within the “U.” Gusts of tried to blow the flowers away, through the open end of the trellis, which faced away from us toward the river. Some of the bridal party gathered them and must have tied them to the trellis, where they were secure from the wind. They left, but returned in about five minutes and stood the trellis on end. It made a beautiful arch with the flowers hanging from the inside top.

Family members were escorted to some of the front seats that were still empty. Then the bridal party entered, couple after couple who separated at the front, so that the men and women were on separate sides. Then two little children entered. Perhaps they were ring bearers. They were unsure of exactly where to go, but many guests helped them with directions. They were cute. By this time my Chinese nephew was at his place in the front. Then came the bride dressed in white. She was beautiful, ever so pretty. She walked with her father and her stepfather. In the meanwhile some nice, recorded music was playing. The wedding followed. I felt moved emotionally, several times, and I did cry. The wedding was sweet and a short poem was read by one of the bridal party. Everyone then exited in the reverse order, except the bride and groom were together. They stopped every four feet or so to kiss and lots of cameras were recording everything. Everyone moved inside for food and for the wedding party. The wedding party was seated near some windows at the middle of one side of a large room. They faced a large open area, which was for dancing. Other tables were arranged in a big “U” around them. Relatives were seated in the front tables on each side, close the bridal party. Of course there was the usual separation by clan, the bride’s rooters were on one side and the groom’s cheerers were in the other group. Since our family is related very closely to the groom’s family, we were up there.

While bridal pictures were being taken, we had to go get in a line for bottled water, soft drinks or beer. Along with that we took several small sandwiches, small pieces of cake, rolls and butter. I drank pretty heavily, water, a Sprite, a coke.and some red soda that my granddaughter did not finish. Then we were directed, table by table, to get our dinner. There were many different rice dishes, some with meat and some without, shrimp, pork, chicken, beef and some things that I could not identify. Many Chinese families and friends prepared the food. They, also, did all the clean-up chores.

The table next to us had a family of girls, about eight of them. Originally, the group had grown to nine. Two of them belonged to another nephew and niece, and the others were left here by their fathers, who then went elsewhere. The mothers, back in Panama, did not want to raise them. The girls were quite young when they were left here. During the years I have taken them candy, trinkets and cash for the holidays. Now some of them have finished high school and two of them are mothers. It was difficult to keep from looking at their table. They are all beautiful. Their traits are good, too. They are kind, considerate and a pleasure to visit. I consider them all my nieces. I’ve dropped the “great” from my reference to most of the nephews and nieces. Actually, there are only two nephews and three nieces. All the others are a generation down. Of course, one niece is an ex-wife; a sister-in-law is an ex-mother-in law, etc. It gets more complicated as one ex-wife has been my aunt and my last two daughters have been my cousins.

After dinner we toasted the bride and groom. They danced and then she danced with each of her fathers. There were some short speeches, but nothing drawn out. Then most of us went outside for a lot of picture taking. They probably had some dancing inside, but my daughter, granddaughter and I left. It was a beautiful event and I was sure happy to be there. I was surprised that I was moved so emotionally. But I was and I cried.
last edited: 6/03/07 3:28:38 AM”

“Here's to you and your'e, Nowslimmer.

Stratdewd”

“Sounds like a great event.

Cheers!”

“I still don't know who got married but I gather congratulations are in order --- [GRIN]”