Today D2 and Jonathan celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary -- and what a weekend it was! I had told each of the Ds that we were giving them a substantial gift -- they could have big ass weddings, or keep the money for other things. They chose door number one, and I'm glad they did -- we had two of the most memorable nights in our family's history.
We checked into the Betsy Hotel, and it had historical precedent. On a VERY cold April night in 1986, I parked in front of the then Betsy Ross Hotel, and walked Wifey, not yet Wifey, to the beach. I had my Mom's wedding ring from 1944 -- she had given it to me with a comical twist. After pre-Wifey showed it to her, my Mom said "Sweetie -- wear it in GOOD health, but if you ever divorce my son -- the ring comes back to our family." Yep -- that was Grandma Sunny -- and Wifey is more and more like her.
Anyway, in sight of the spirit of my late Dad, whose cremains were in the ocean, I told her I loved her and wanted her to build a family together. Wifey claims I never actually asked her -- just sort of said these were my thoughts, but when I gave her the ring, the message was clear.
So years later, we were on that same hallowed ground -- in the beautifully renovated hotel. Friday night we had a cocktail party in the basement -- decorated with rock star posters - which was where Meyer Lansky ran one of his boiler room operations. We drank -- heavily. The planners estimated the alcohol would cost around $5K, but when we got the bill, it was $15K -- everyone was drinking triples of the top shelf hootch! D2 negotiated it down to a much more reasonable amount, showing me she indeed would have made a fine lawyer.
On Sunday night, we gathered for the ceremony to sign the ketuba -- and the party was ON. Our consuegros Liz and David were there -- Liz and Wifey broke a plate -- symbolizing the last time anything should be broken in our families. There was a shadow over the prep time -- news of Kobe Bryant's death had circulated, and he was a MAJOR hero to Jonathan and his friends -- but it just sort of added to the poignancy of the day.
And then we met on the rooftop, under a beautiful chuppah, and this was what I recall most: the sun was setting over Miami to the west -- actually over the Everglades farther west, and the ocean was to our close right. Somehow the lighting -- a true golden orange -- looked fake -- surreally beautiful. Every face glowed. It was if a Hollywood lighting director had lit a set...
Rabbi Yossi did something for the first time officiating at a wedding -- he brought up the Holocaust! Classic buzz kill. But the fact that two grandchildren of Survivors were marrying on that gorgeous night was too important to not mention -- the ultimate F U to Hitler and the Nazis.
The party was, as the millennials say, lit. Crazy dancing. More dancing than I ever saw -- the Latin Jews can and do teach American Jews how to do it. Wifey and I got to do the dance when you marry off your last child.
And upstairs, dressed in a tux for adorable photos, was our first grandson --- all of 5 weeks old.
Around 2 am, the after party in the coffee room next to the main hall, was still going strong. Wifey and I were ready to retreat -- I went to the wedding planner, and said I felt bad -- she had hours left on her job. "Nope," she said "thing is winding down -- be over in about 30 minutes." And it turned out she was correct.
The next morning, I sat eating breakfast and drinking coffee, and saying adios to the guests -- my sister and nephew and niece were headed back to California -- many of the friends were headed back to South America -- one back to Israel. It was a happy hangover sort of morning.
But I couldn't get the mental picture of that magical light out of my mind -- as if the Big Man was truly smiling down.
So happy half decade, mein kinder -- and here's to a lifetime together! For this gray, overweight Daddy in the USA -- it's as good as it gets.
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