New Year's Eve Wedding

 

It was a rainy and foggy night to the airport. I wore my Christmas lights strung around my neck beckoning Rudolph to join us, but alas, alas. When we reached the airport, Aaron dropped us all off as he went to park and we quickly went into the warm, well-lit airport in South Bend. Even with the late-night hour and the dark and the fog, I could not  have been happier. Seven of us were traveling together to attend Adam’s wedding in St. Pete. Our seats were all close together on the plane so I could turn around and wave and smile and just be happy we were all together.

Those of you who travel in family groups know how difficult it is to plan these kinds of trips working around everyone’s schedule. However, we knew well in advance so we could all clear our schedules for the week after Christmas and make our plans. And really, what fun is a New Year’s Eve wedding?

We arrived in St. Pete in the wee hours of the morning with our GPS set on our Airbnb. Of course, I am always a bit nervous about booking an Airbnb without seeing it first, but it looked great in the photos, and it was big enough for all of us plus Abe! I never should have feared as it was terrific with rooms for everyone! By morning, with the Florida sunshine pouring into the kitchen, we could see the blue water of the Gulf. Rachel was the first to investigate as she took her early morning run to check out little boutiques and coffee shops. The kids all spent their morning touring around the town. The guys all went fishing! By afternoon we were over by the beaches, and even though the water was chilly, they all took a dive and went swimming. I just filmed the event!!

Lunch was long and lazy by the water, and then it was time to head over to Adam and Lisa’s house. They had spent long weekends getting the yard ready with lots of string lights and perfecting the lawn areas. Adam has a sweet bungalow right on the path of the SunRunner, the local bus which travels all over St. Pete. We sat outside telling stories until the sky turned inky black and the late December night sky was our canopy. I guess you could say that I really could not have been happier to have my family all together at the table.

We left before midnight as we meandered back to our Airbnb. We hollered good night to each other before closing our own doors. Sleep came easily after the long night before, and once again, sunshine spilled all over the kitchen floor. We spent the next two days getting ready. The kids were great at moving furniture, setting up tables, washing down the rented chairs. We were doing all the cooking, so we started in on that. By late night on New Year’s Eve Eve, we were heading downtown for the bachelorette party. Again, we took the bus, and it was quite the adventure. Lisa was beautiful and everyone wished her congratulations and wanted to hear the love story everywhere we went. It was a great time, and a great party.

New Year’s Eve brought a cold front to Florida. We really did have to laugh about it as it was to reach a record low. We were prepared with heaters and a campfire in the corner at the s’mores bar. Nothing, but nothing could deter our happiness. By 8:00, the twinkle lights were on, the food was ready, the fireworks (yes, Abe brought fireworks) were ready, and so were we. Folks began to arrive coming from everywhere…some flew in and some drove. We had to search for more chairs. The wedding was just lovely and completely magical. Aaron and Abe stood up with him as did Rachel and a family friend. We laughed, we cried, we celebrated until the wee hours. At the stroke of midnight, it was as if all St. Pete began to celebrate with us as the fireworks went off all around us.

The next day was clean up, and a late farewell. It was hard to leave as it had all been magical. I didn’t want it to end. When we arrived back home it was snowing

It was late when I finally arrived at my old purple house, I went to bed and simply whispered, “Good night, family.”