A Destination Wedding Is Not for the Faint of Heart

In the best possible way

Friday, May 29th - 11:15pm

It is one of those nights where I don’t want the festivities to end. I drag my finger through the condensation on the school bus window, drawing a little smiley face. It seems fitting, after all, that’s what I used to do when I was a kid on dewy mornings on my way to school.

Tonight looks a little different than all those years ago. Tonight, I’m in a floor length dress and sparkly heels (yes, my heels made it the entire night!!), on my way to the after party. I look around the bus, allowing the sea of voices to wash over me. In this moment, I disassociate from the wedding crowd and start swimming through the plethora of emotions from the weekend. Which emotion to choose? The obvious one? The one that’s hard to admit? The easy one? The one I’m ignoring? All of the above?

Laura taps me on the shoulder, “Hey girl are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just……..content.”

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Thursday, May 28th - 9:30am

Flying first class is a very rare occurrence for me. I am ecstatic (!!!) to report that I am sitting in seat 3c for this lovely trip to Boston for Liz’s wedding. I adore Liz, I adore Boston, and I adore the fact that George switched seats with me so I could sit next to Laura for the flight. (Don’t feel bad for him, he literally moved across the aisle to 3b and looked quite happy with his book.)

We order glasses of bubbly (I felt obligated! How often do I get the chance to do this??) and Laura puts on her 3-hour face mask.

“I think it has salmon sperm in it or something,” Laura says casually (regarding the face mask, NOT the prosecco).

I CACKLE as Laura takes a sip of her wine through the mask.

Never a dull moment.

I barely notice the plane take off as we chit chat. Eventually, we settle into our own books (Every Summer After for me, if you were curious) and I take a moment of gratitude that my legs have space to stretch out (I fear I have now been spoiled).

I’m almost a little sad when it’s time to land. (Almost, it’s still a plane and I’d much rather be at my destination. But wow. What a treat.)

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Thursday, May 28th - 2:00pm

This is where my brain starts to short circuit a little bit.

We deplane at Boston Logan and I instinctively enter “airport dad” mode. It’s usually me, myself, and I when traveling, so I know how to move with a purpose and navigate an airport.

But this time, I’m Laura and George’s adopted child. So I can just..sort of..relax?

Huh.

I struggle with this concept until we get to the rental car. You mean to tell me I can just sit in the back seat and stare out the window and say “ooooh look at all the brick!!! That’s a cool building.”???? A remarkable concept.

Old habits do die screaming though, as I offer sunblock while we walk through Boston Commons.

The sky laughs at me and mere minutes later, rain plummets toward us. We seek shelter in the Uncommon Corner under a large (large) tree (I’d give you more specifics but unfortunately dendrology is not my area of expertise). I should be bummed, but it somehow feels rather…poetic? This particular corner happens to be a beer garden and Laura is bouncing off the walls because they have her favorite beer (Harpoon). George orders us some chips and dip and we pass around the containers, shielding the food from stray raindrops with our bodies the way the tree shields us with its leaves - not flawlessly but good enough. We see a family walking across the park, drenched, clearly having accepted their fate and carrying about their day.

I exhale.

Wow. Is this what it’s like to not worry about it? Noted.

Soon, the sun reclaims the sky and we take the long way out of the park. George gives Laura a piggy back ride to the parking garage. I reclaim my window seat and sing along to the music as we head an hour north to Wakefield.

Let the parties begin.

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PART 2 COMING SOON!!

Y’all the corporate world gets all my time this week, and I don’t want to rush this story. I’ll post part two when it’s ready :)