Saturday, June 06, 2009
COMPARING SATURDAYS
28 years ago, June 6 was on a Saturday, just like this year. Jan and I got married that day.
It was 106 degrees out when the wedding commenced in the late afternoon.
The air conditioner in Temple Beth Israel, where the ceremony and the reception took place, blew out shortly before we showed up for the ceremony. They got it working in the reception area but the temple was an oven. We agreed to make it as short as possible.
The wedding photographer spent the bulk of the photo session pushing my glasses back up my sweaty nose.
The flower bouquets for the bridesmaids and bride arrived at the Jewish Temple neatly designed in the shape of the cross.
Much rearranging was quickly done.
We got married; we partied.
Most weddings are excuses for the parents to invite people; ours was no different. The party was populated with relatives mostly, lots of my dad's business associates, my coworkers at the time and yes, a few of our friends.
We're still in touch with most of our friends from that time.
But some things have changed, as they will after 28 years.
Of the parents, only my mom, the bulletproof Mary Lou, is still with us, just turned 80 and just fine, thank you.
The more ancient guests in the wedding pictures are, of course, now memories, except for my equally bulletproof Aunt Marcella, who's now 92 and I wouldn't be surprised if she was climbing Everest at the moment.
As for the wedding party, most of us are still here and doing well; only my sister is gone.
We got some weird gifts. A very good friend of our family's sent us a very strange thing, two wooden bases with three holes each in them, accompanied by two long white rods made out of...something. We didn't have the heart to ask the giver WTF it was, on the off chance that part of it had fallen out during shipping which would have made it plain as day what it was. So our thank you note said "Thanks for the lovely gift! It was the perfect idea. Very unique."
And it was. We had that thing for years. Brought it out at parties and had people guess what it was. We never did figure it out. It may still be here somewhere...
A business associate of my dad's sent us an elaborate Waterford Crystal bowl. It was so nice that we felt unworthy using it, and actually didn't for about ten years.
Moving forward to this Saturday:
The high temperature today was 92.
Our air conditioner is fine.
The building that was Temple Beth Israel is now a Phoenix College Cooking School.
If I wanted to bring all the surviving members of the wedding party together, I could, because we're all still here in Phoenix.
A lot has changed, but I'm still married to my beautiful Janice and I love her more than ever.
And we still laugh like crazy when we talk about that bizarre gift.
------
Ticket are going fast for next Saturday's Romantasy Cabaret Show at Club Red! Go to www.brownpapertickets.com and buy some! Show up! These things are fun! New Times Best of Phoenix and all that!
------
Doncha hate it when you're in a store and you hear a CD that they're playing and it's AMAZING and you want it and THEY"RE OUT OF IT????
Steve Martin's new album "The Crow." Holy. Moley. MUST. FIND. COPY. I know this is blasphemous but the guy's almost as good as Earl Scruggs.
------
Speaking of Steve Martin, did anybody see him and Paul Simon on Jimmy Fallon's show this week? Goooood stuff...
------
Conan O'Brien should've taken over for Leno years ago. I actually look forward to being awake at 10:30 again.
------
My kids' band, Thunderstump, got their second gig: July 10 at the Firehouse, 1st Street and Roosevelt! Free! Woo Hoo! Go see them! I will!
------
Come down to the Trunk Space this Wednesday! I'm playing with five other acts starting at 7 p.m.! it's on Grand, just north of the Roosevelt/Grand/15th Avenue intersection. $7! Come see! (Scroll down a couple of blog entries and check out the blue postcard with more info.)
TT
28 years ago, June 6 was on a Saturday, just like this year. Jan and I got married that day.
It was 106 degrees out when the wedding commenced in the late afternoon.
The air conditioner in Temple Beth Israel, where the ceremony and the reception took place, blew out shortly before we showed up for the ceremony. They got it working in the reception area but the temple was an oven. We agreed to make it as short as possible.
The wedding photographer spent the bulk of the photo session pushing my glasses back up my sweaty nose.
The flower bouquets for the bridesmaids and bride arrived at the Jewish Temple neatly designed in the shape of the cross.
Much rearranging was quickly done.
We got married; we partied.
Most weddings are excuses for the parents to invite people; ours was no different. The party was populated with relatives mostly, lots of my dad's business associates, my coworkers at the time and yes, a few of our friends.
We're still in touch with most of our friends from that time.
But some things have changed, as they will after 28 years.
Of the parents, only my mom, the bulletproof Mary Lou, is still with us, just turned 80 and just fine, thank you.
The more ancient guests in the wedding pictures are, of course, now memories, except for my equally bulletproof Aunt Marcella, who's now 92 and I wouldn't be surprised if she was climbing Everest at the moment.
As for the wedding party, most of us are still here and doing well; only my sister is gone.
We got some weird gifts. A very good friend of our family's sent us a very strange thing, two wooden bases with three holes each in them, accompanied by two long white rods made out of...something. We didn't have the heart to ask the giver WTF it was, on the off chance that part of it had fallen out during shipping which would have made it plain as day what it was. So our thank you note said "Thanks for the lovely gift! It was the perfect idea. Very unique."
And it was. We had that thing for years. Brought it out at parties and had people guess what it was. We never did figure it out. It may still be here somewhere...
A business associate of my dad's sent us an elaborate Waterford Crystal bowl. It was so nice that we felt unworthy using it, and actually didn't for about ten years.
Moving forward to this Saturday:
The high temperature today was 92.
Our air conditioner is fine.
The building that was Temple Beth Israel is now a Phoenix College Cooking School.
If I wanted to bring all the surviving members of the wedding party together, I could, because we're all still here in Phoenix.
A lot has changed, but I'm still married to my beautiful Janice and I love her more than ever.
And we still laugh like crazy when we talk about that bizarre gift.
------
Ticket are going fast for next Saturday's Romantasy Cabaret Show at Club Red! Go to www.brownpapertickets.com and buy some! Show up! These things are fun! New Times Best of Phoenix and all that!
------
Doncha hate it when you're in a store and you hear a CD that they're playing and it's AMAZING and you want it and THEY"RE OUT OF IT????
Steve Martin's new album "The Crow." Holy. Moley. MUST. FIND. COPY. I know this is blasphemous but the guy's almost as good as Earl Scruggs.
------
Speaking of Steve Martin, did anybody see him and Paul Simon on Jimmy Fallon's show this week? Goooood stuff...
------
Conan O'Brien should've taken over for Leno years ago. I actually look forward to being awake at 10:30 again.
------
My kids' band, Thunderstump, got their second gig: July 10 at the Firehouse, 1st Street and Roosevelt! Free! Woo Hoo! Go see them! I will!
------
Come down to the Trunk Space this Wednesday! I'm playing with five other acts starting at 7 p.m.! it's on Grand, just north of the Roosevelt/Grand/15th Avenue intersection. $7! Come see! (Scroll down a couple of blog entries and check out the blue postcard with more info.)
TT
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