Two Years Ago

With all of the tumult surrounding the near miss of Hurricane Dorian, Wifey and I almost forgot an anniversary sacred to our family: the second wedding anniversary of D1 and Joey.

9/3/17 fell on the Sunday before Labor Day, and it was truly an affair to remember: 300 guests dancing and eating and drinking, led by Beto. No -- not the lightweight running for president -- but the artistic head of Zumba, the exercise company followed by thousands. Beto led all of the women at the party in an unforgettable session of salsa and moving -- the fellows mostly stayed on the sidelines watching.

It carried on a tradition of having celebrities at family weddings. Wifey and I were entertained by Pat Travers, a multiple gold record winner, at our wedding, in '87. I'm not sure about D2 and Jonathan's coming party -- maybe Pitbull?????

I called my son in law and told him I had 5 words to say to him: Thank you; I love you. I am extremely thankful that my precious firstborn found a man who adores and cares for her beyond my wildest hopes. He replied that he ought to thank me, for his wonderful wife.

I'm so lucky to have these conversations with my son in law and future son in law. Wifey's father, may he rest in peace, was a man of few words. He showed his love by how he cared for his family, but words weren't part of the equation. He never seemed capable of saying "I love you." I like to think he felt that way, and I took sufficient care of HIS little girl over the past decades. Communication just wasn't his thing.

I was at the office and got a text from D2, beginning "Hello best parents in the world." I knew there would be a somewhat annoying request, and indeed there was: could we go to her apartment in the Grove, where her realtor had arranged for the owner to be there, to measure for furniture? It was apparently time sensitive, as some furniture retailer had a crazy good sale going -- ending tonight.

Wifey agreed, and, as I expected, asked me to go along to hold the tape measure. I did, and we met the owner -- a near twin of Rowan Atkinson...Mr Bean! But he had a very heavy accent and claimed his name was Frank and he was from Italy. I don't know -- it might indeed be Mr. Bean pranking us. I guess we'll find out eventually.

We did the measurements under D2's FaceTime (tm) direction, and then left our cars in the valet and walked to get some lunch. We had salads at Harry's Pizza, which I now learned is packed in the afternoon with private school kids and their well dressed mothers.

We walked back to the condo, and I met Carlos, the affable Peruano front door man. I told him about his coming residents, and he looked forward to meeting them.

As I waited for my car, I kept up my Casper the Friendly Dad routine -- the nickname the Ds and Wifey gave me when the Ds were tweens.  A very cute dachshund and his owner came out, and I petted the little fellow, learning his name was Dobie. His dog dad was Bill, and he asked if I had moved in -- not, I told him, but my daughter and future son in law were.

Bill asked where they were coming from, and I told him Greenwich Village. He did a double take. He was born and raised in Miami, but left to live in the Village for 33 years -- he was a consultant at McKenzie, which I had heard of, and now retired. I told him my daughter would definitely be harassing his dog -- he looked forward to it.

A LOT has happened in the last 2 years -- beginning with having to flee Miami right after the wedding because of Hurricane Irma. We sat in lots of traffic getting to Atlanta, causing D1 to note that nothing says newlywed bliss better than 18 straight hours in the car with your in laws.

But Joey and I were an excellent team -- it was the first time I had used Waze -- and we brought our wives and 3 dogs out of harm's way and back home with minimal hassle.

He's my kind of man, Joey is. Giving my precious D1 shelter from the storms of life.

May they be blessed with many more years together -- to 120, as the Italians say.

With the men my Ds have chosen, well, Wifey and I are a pair of very lucky parents in the USA.