It's a Nice Day For a White Wedding

So Sunday Wifey and I said adios to the dogs, and left for the new land of our people: Boca Raton.  We cruised up the Sawgrass to Deerfield, and I had a small walk down memory lane.  I spent summers in college with my parents in Delray, and worked at Jordan Marsh in the Town Center Mall, and two much better summers at Boca Hospital.  The staff and I would hang out at places in Deerfield -- we went past an apartment complex on Hillsboro that brought back happy thoughts...

We were greeted at the very large and very pink Boca Hotel and Club, or Club and Hotel -- I forget.  A very charming desk man named Brad checked us in -- he loved the place -- had been working there since he was 17.  He gave us a double upgrade -- a suite in the newly renovated building with a view of the 18th hole of the course.

We took the elevator in the renovated 1926 building to a VERY long corridor -- it was a little Shining-esque -- but the room was gorgeous.  Wifey "couldn't make it" until the dinner -- 2 hours later -- so made her way to a restaurant for an emergency chicken salad.  I admired the view -- it was SO hot I preferred the indoors -- of golfers leaving the course.  We dressed and WAZE took us the the synagogue on time -- early, in fact.

We caught up with long time friends Steve and Janet -- like us, uber parents.  One girl is a budding eye doc, the other two are lawyers and marketers -- all U grads.  Then Pete and Memory came -- one friend's wife's name I can never forget.  And then it was 5 -- start time.

We were led to a party room, and the apps and drinks flowed.  Eric had a vodka luge, and Barry and I made sure it worked properly.  It did.  As we ate and drank, the bridal party came in for a Bidecken -- an old tradition where they are greeted by guests.  And then we all filed in to the sanctuary.

It was dramatic.  The rabbi is VERY liberal -- Barry and I remember his sermon from Jenn's Bat Mitzvah -- "shabbos is a frame of mind -- you can golf if you want -- just always keep it in mind that it is the sacred day of rest."  Like most reform rabbis -- he had a LOT to say - but the cantor, a woman, had a truly heavenly voice.  The couple came in to a Hebrew version of Leonard Cohen's "Halleluja" -- and it was fine.  And then, after one miss from the groom Ben, the glass was broken, and we all erupted in cheer.

From there, it was back to the party room, now formally decorated.  The band played and played and played -- they were the hardest working group on the wedding circuit.  During the Hora, Eric  gathered we old guard and we dropped and did the worm -- an homage to our college days.  Wifey asked if it was hard for me to do in my mid 50s -- I told her dropping was as easy as always -- getting up a bit harder.

Eric and Dana were joyous, and it was our true privilege to share it with them.  Josh, the brother of the bride -- was moved to tears several times as he saw his best friend and sister enter her life's next stage.

Eric spoke beautifully -- about family, about Jenn and her "life decisions" and about his new son Ben.

Uncharacteristically, Wifey had a few drinks -- actually three -- and like the Don Henley song, all she wanted to do was dance.  I kept up mostly, although it was a very hot room, and eventually my sweating sent me to the sidelines.

There was a lot of hugging, and mazel tovs, and saluds...It was awesome.  It was a banner night for my brother and his family.

At 11, the band played "Last Dance," and it was.  We walked to the VERY hot and humid night -- the weather app said it felt like 93.  We drove back the the Club/Hotel/Club and I fell asleep to the Godfather -- Wifey asking me how many times I had seen it.  Many.

In the am I woke first, and headed down for the included breakfast, in a beautiful room with a glass roof.  I read the "Times" and listened to a woman talking, non stop, at the table behind me.  I thought of my friend Joel, a lovable scoundrel, and imagined him saying to her "You know -- you seem like a nice lady, but you talk SO MUCH..."

I brought Wifey coffee and she dressed and then we returned for breakfast part II.  We checked out, and there was Brad.  He told me I had $70 left of a 100 resort credit, from AMEX, and sent me to not waste it.  Wifey took to the hunt like a trained hound, and found a pair of sunglasses for one of the Ds...

We thanked Brad, and drove home, talking to each of the Ds about the wedding.  They were invited but both had conflicts.  But we all know that three months hence, we have our own wedding.

As I hugged Eric I reminded him -- we are lucky, rocking Daddies in the USA...