It Was in the Fall....

October 10, 2009. It’s Fall. Well, the official beginning of Fall was a couple of weeks ago, but it was not as noticeable as it is now. The thing about Fall is that you have to take notice of it or you will miss it entirely; and then you are faced with the bareness of winter. Fall is the opposite of winter when it’s at its peak. The trees are satiated with earth tone colors, making you feel welcome as you drive home from a long day of work. As the leaves descend in beautiful foreboding, a sparkle of sunlight will catch your attention to a new tree with a shade of red you could swear you’ve never seen before. I am most content in the Fall; the problem is that it’s much too brief. Suddenly, it’s gone, leaving me to wonder if I gave it enough attentiveness.

It’s almost one week now since Lindsay and Scott’s engagement party and like the splendor of Fall, I feel like it passed in an instant. I just loaded the pictures onto my computer, but I don’t think they capture the memories I have from that day. It was in our favorite Thai Restaurant. They closed it for our party and we just about fit 96 people inside. Lindsay, Scott, Kim, Mark and I all wore shades of purple and grey. It wasn’t really planned, it just happened. If I flashback in my mind to the day of the party, what I remember is my mom and my Aunt Dorothy, sitting together, just like they used to all the time as I was growing up. In reality, they hadn’t seen each other in months. I see my cousins, so happy just to be together with family, sharing stories with my sister, brother and me. I remember Mark’s cousin, Marcia, being the first to arrive with husband, Danny, all the way from New Jersey. We both recalled how she was right there at the hospital when Lindsay was born. It became a little frazzling setting up the table for coffee, while greeting my guests, but my sister-in-law, Maryanne, thankfully, shooed me away and took on the task. And that bittersweet moment when Uncle Milty arrived all the way from Florida and Lindsay being so overwhelmed with emotion, waving her hand in front of her face to keep from crying. After they embraced, Uncle Milty took out a small box and said, “This from Aunt Laura.” Inside was a tiny pinky ring with the initial “L” in diamonds. Then I started to cry. I thought of my last goodbye to Aunt Laura and how we promised each other she would be at Lindsay’s wedding.

It was a day of joy and love- Scott and Lindsay looking so happy and so darn good-looking. Scott’s mom made a speech about how they compliment one another…and they do. It was our whole family meeting Scott’s whole family. It was the two sisters, Michelle and Kim, making the toast. It was Lindsay’s old friends…. Samantha Berman, from Kindergarten, all grown up, married and pregnant. It was Julia and Michael, who used to hang out at my house when they were teens, with their family- the future flower girl, Gianna, and a bouncing baby boy. It was Lindsay’s niece to-be, Marisa, the other flower girl, meeting Gianna for the first time. It was Erica, Lindsay’s partner in trouble in high school, being there with her fiancé. It was our gorgeous, smiling, funny Lisa, who has become part of the family. It was Gabby, from Musical Theatre college days, applying Lindsay’s make-up. It was Lindsay's new friends- from Lindsay and Kim’s Israel trip. It was meeting Scott’s friends and seeing the best man and groomsmen standing beside him as he asked them to be in the wedding party. It was Scott and Lindsay’s slide show, set to music, documenting the first year of their romance. It was Scott and Lindsay standing beside a poster with pictures of them when they were eight years old, she on a boat with her teeth missing, he in his baseball uniform. It was the past meeting the future.

It was hugs and kisses and bliss and laughter all inside a Thai Restaurant. It was in the fall.