Don't Stop The Party

 So we eschewed Uber, and instead drove to Brickell. I'm not sure why -- I really, really dig Uber. Each time I summon the car, I feel like Thurston Howell from Gilligan's Island -- like a very rich guy with a chauffer. I probably ought to use it more. But last night we drove the girly Lexus sedan to the Four Seasons.

I hadn't been to the building in over 10 years -- it's still elegant. I took a photo of Wifey standing under an enormous Botero sculpture of a not quite anatomically correct corpulent woman. And then we went to the event space.

I ran into Rob, a fellow I had some tensosity with last July, as he came to the engagement party for the couple without a Covid test -- putting newly recovered Wifey at potential risk. But like most folks, I am OVER Covid -- even if it's not over us, and as Wifey and I are triple vaxxed and both fought off the damned plague in January and March, I'm not too concerned. And so we caught up with Rob, and his boys, one of whom, Matt, is an accomplished LA artist. He came up to me and hugged me and said I was always a rold model to him -- as a husband and Dad. Aw. He is doing well in that regard, with a beautiful wife and baby girl back in LA.

The ceremony was lovely -- the party came in to a string version of "Beyond the Sea." The officiant was Jamie, who I told Barry, sitting next to me like the junior high boys we remain, that I call her a RWT. What's that? A rabbi without testicles. We stifled our laughter, of course.

Lili and Jeff were masked up -- they have a Duke graduation for their youngest in a few weeks and don't want no Covid messing that up.

The vows moved us, or me, at least, to some wet eyes. Chris is such a genuine and amazing young man, and he spoke about how lucky he is -- with parents who gave him the world, and friends who are true brothers and sisters, and yet the luckiest thing ever was having his high school girlfriend at his side to start life's journey.

Rachel said she knew she was going to marry Chris when they met, at 18, even though he was moving to LA for college and she headed to Atlanta, for Emory. And Rachel, quiet and sweet, gets what she wants -- and she knew that a teen meeting at Palmetto High would lead to a chuppah someday.

I told Wifey there was a lot of dust in the room -- hence my wet eyes. She smiled -- sometimes her emotionally blocked husband lets it go.

At the cocktail hour, we caught up with Arnie and Ronnie -- Arnie was Mike's Dad Ed's longtime partner -- he finally retired from law at 78. Of course,we talked about times of old in the law biz.

The drinks poured, but I knew I was going far more modestly than I did at the rehearsal dinner. I simply can't drink heavily 2 nights in a row.

Dinner was delicious -- a band with a DJ kept the gringo crowd moving -- and then there was a surprise guest -- Sebastian the Ibis. He danced around, and lead a CANES cheer -- as both Rachel and Chris have their grad degrees from the U. Wifey posed for a snap with our beloved mascot -- a Cane by marriage.

I told Loni the truth -- in the nearly 40 years I've known her, she never looked more beautiful. Wifey concurred. Maybe that's why they had us sit at the groom's parent table -- with Chris's aunt Jeannine, her husband Ray, the grandma Marci, and Darriel and Paul. It was delightful.

We left around midnight. The Ds also had big nights. D1 and Joey were at a wedding on the Beach -- her friend Caroline. And D2 and Jonathan were taken to a place on the Miami River by some corporate lawyers thanking Jonathan for a deal they worked on -- and D2 sampled well, it seemed, their mezcal.

And now it's a quiet Sunday. Wifey is sleeping in. I have coffee and jazz on WDNA -- my go to Sunday am music. And think back upon the young, fecund people who are taking over the world -- as they should.

And as for Chris and Rachel, to steal a Paul Williams lyric, they've only just begun. And it was delightful to be a part of that.