wedding bumps & soccer balls

Any wedding tradition that has the bride and groom bounced up and down on chairs, holding on to a napkin, is good by me. Danny and Laura seemed illuminated on the day, which is a good way to be at your wedding, and much fun was had by all. Until the bar closed at 10. At which point pilfered bottles and a new venue were required. So we all got on the bus and headed to the hotel bar and drank until the much more civilized hour of 2 in the morning. I think we went to another bar beforehand. I have vague memories of drinking pints of Guinness in quick succession. Guinness in the States is served too cold and lacks creaminess.

The next day I went with my folks to see my brother's family, feeling a little bit hungover. I didn't go for my run that morning. My eldest niece, Katie, had reached the finals of a local soccer tournament (this is Massachusetts, so it's soccer, not football) and we all went, watched and screamed in maniacal support for the Wilmington under-13's girl's team. Did wonders for my hangover. Sarah, Katie's younger sister, got all face painted up and hollered as loud, if not louder, than everyone else. Bound to swell with uncle pride, I bellowed along and took lots of photos of Katie kicking the ball and sometimes her opponents. It was a very impressive match and she played a hell of a lot better than I ever did. And she won, of course, and I remembered being 11 years old and winning the local little league championships and how awesome it was to get my trophy. Getting a public speaking trophy at summer school never quite equalled it.

That's the last of my Boston chat.