Home again

My body is back in Maryland, but my mind is still floating in the pool I had to myself yesterday - warmed blue water under a bright, bluer sky with the insistent Florida sun slipping into and out of the occasional cloud...hot pink and light purple azaleas grown twisted along the fence and palm frond beyond...dragonflies and pairs of low-flying blacks birds with greenish blue back feathers when the sun caught them just so...

My cousin Holly is married and so happy; her wedding was a joy. The chuppah blowing over before the ceremony gave us an excuse to include the rest of our cousins - I would have liked to have seen them carrying it out, but was waiting my turn to proceed down the aisle. The officiant was a personal friend of the bride; her readings were heartfelt and her voice caught as she turned and spoke to my cousin, "Holly-bell..."

All of my cousins on that side were there with their wives and children - we had family members from 10 months to 92 years old. It's scary to see how the older kids have changed in the two years since I saw them last and so much fun to watch the little girls who are so tickled with each other. My mother showed off her new figure in clothes more stylish and flattering than anything she's worn for years dancing with her sister, her great nieces, and once even the (mighty cute) brother of the groom. I talked with my hero, Lily (my grandparents oldest friend), and made sure we got at least one cousins-only picture (it is no easy feat to get all six of us together).

And I sobbed at my grandparents' grave as my uncle cried in my aunt's (his ex-wife) embrace. My cousins were right there to hold me up. At the end, I finally gave in and hugged my older cousin who had been speaking to me all weekend as if nothing had happened.

I hope other people took good pictures and will share them because I tried to just let myself be in the moment. I did take this one to send to Biz while he worked.



(There are a few more at Flickr.)