The Wedding Party

About 13 years ago, a group of us started hanging out together during 5th grade basketball games. Before the holiday weekend, that group got together to celebrate one of us as mother-of-the-bride-to-be.

Our conversations touched upon the current events of our lives, including the use of well-placed mirrors. But over the course of the evening I couldn’t help but recall certain memories of each of these women.

Lydia – The mother of the bride. And a Yankee’s fan. Specifically, a 2003 Yankee’s fan. On that awful night, she drove by Wayne’s house (see Kris below) blasting her horn and pounding on the door. He did not let her in. A year later, Wayne went pounding on Lydia’s door. She graciously offered him something to eat, a beverage, and congratulations.

Kathy – A few post 3-on-3 gatherings were held at Kathy’s house where we celebrated our champs. I also had the opportunity to watch Peyton Manning for the first time at her house on a fine January evening. We celebrated that one as well.

Kristen – Any time I see Kristen, I can’t help but recall her turning next to me at a basketball game and quietly saying, “I was behind you in the car wash.”

Let me explain.

Going through the car wash one day, I decided to make efficient use of my time by wiping down the dashboard with the disposable cloth they handed me upon entering. I carefully avoided hitting the steering wheel, but that meant I didn’t pay attention to the gear shift. I accidentally put the car in drive. Once I realized my error, the car was off the tracks and no longer moving forward. Unfortunately, the car behind me was. In an effort to get away, I proceeded to drive into the car wash equipment since I was in the middle of a cloud of water and couldn’t see a thing. A few alarms went off, the whole thing came to a screeching halt, and the attendants helped me drive off with only minimal damage to my side view mirror.

I quickly put the incident behind me until Kristen sat next to me a few days later.

Sarah – There have been a couple get-togethers at Sarah’s house as well and a number of basketball games – including ones where Dave, Wayne, and Sarah’s husband were teammates (scary). But the thing I think of when I see Sarah is a set of brand new white towels. Her daughter Gillian was sleeping over, and the kids were horsing around in one of the bedrooms. Gillian suddenly suffered a nose bleed – something she was prevalent to at the time – and quickly reached for one of those white towels. I still have that stained towel.

Kris – Out of all the women there that night, Kris knows me the best and has seen me at my worst. In addition to being together in social settings, we have worked together. I have yelled at her (for example, for getting the kids home too late after basketball practice), and she has seen me yell at others – including a profanity-laced admonishment directed at a referee while her very young son sat next to me. I have embarrassed  her with some of my social faux pas (I once told a group of parents I didn’t need to know their names, because I would never see them again. How was I to know their daughters were on the same team as Heather and Kasey?) So, when Lillian (see below) accidentally called me a cherub, Kris immediately objected.

Lillian – Lillian is the one outlier in the group. She is friends with Lydia, but I know her as the mother of one of Meagan’s friends, not Heather’s. I was surprised and thrilled to see her at the shower. Since her daughter Natalie was one of the first friends of the girls to ever come over the house, I’ve known Lillian the longest. She helped me with my first wave of  real decorating, and she was responsible for getting me away from my duck and heart motifs and pushed me out of my comfort zone. That’s why I have a couple of lamps with feathers on the shades that I absolutely love although I would never have picked them out on my own. Her Natalie and my Meagan were quite a pair in elementary school, and they always had me smiling back then.

Other than Lydia, none of these women were happy with the photos I took that evening, so I’ll have to share these instead:

Maybe I’ll be able to get a photo that they approve of at the wedding.