Saturday, April 21, 2012

It Was A Hit!

We pulled it off!! My brothers and I did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself and threw my parents a wonderful 60th wedding anniversary party. About 75 of their closest friends and family turned out and everyone had a great time. I received many compliments from people in attendance which made me very happy. You never know how events like this will turn out, especially when there was a huge hiccup that no one saw coming.

Thursday afternoon I received a call from my mother informing me that my Uncle Roger had passed away in his sleep that morning. Uncle Roger was my Dad's younger brother and this was not expected. With the party just 3 days away, I wasn't sure how to proceed. Will my Dad be in any mood to celebrate? Would it be disrespectiful to go forward with the party? Most everything had been ordered, paid for and we were ready to go. I didn't know at that point when services for my Uncle would be either...and would that interfere with anything?? All I could do was wait and see what was going to happen.
On Friday I heard from my Uncle's daughter who said she and her husband weren't going to be able to attend the anniversary party because they had to go to Canada to accompany her fathers body through Customs. We spoke for a bit and she told me that her father would not be happy if we cancelled the party...60 years of marriage was something to celebrate and we should proceed. So with a heavy heart we did...and it was just what the family needed to get through the tough times ahead. To honor my Uncle, I had the DJ pause the music and request a moment of silence before lunch was served. It didn't seem like enough but somehow I felt he was smiling down at us all and making sure everyone had a good time. My parents enjoyed their day and that's all that mattered to me. So here are a few pictures from the afternoon to enjoy.


Centerpiece


Wrist Corsage


Boutinneer


Gifts and Guest Book


Eric, Dad, Sara and sister in law Diane


Mom, Sara and Me


My brother Dave, Diane, brother in law Ray, the back of my nephew Jason and my Dad


Cutting the cake


Dancing to their wedding song Because of You by Tony Bennett (and our awesome DJ Joe in the background)


The Cake


My Niece Crystal and Sara singing to my parents


About a third of the family


My Dad dancing with 2 of his favorite girls