I recently attended the shower and the wedding of my grandson, John and his girlfriend, Christine. The shower was in June at a hotel and was a bit fancier than what I am used to.  There was a choice of four selections of food which we picked from and then sent with our reply of acceptance through the mail.

I had only met Christine once when she came with John to stay a few days at my home in Callicoon Center. Christine met me at the door and seated me at a tablewith women she worked with.  One woman began talking about her cats and when I asked her how many she had, she held up one hand so I could count her fingers. I was astonished that she had five cats but then she also held up her other hand which indicated a total of ten cats.  She said that people keep leaving cats at her door and she felt compelled to take them in.

Another woman at that table told me I looked like a Scotch drinker. She was so funny. I don't know what a Scotch drinker looks like but I told her I hated Scotch but liked wine.  Another woman asked if she could get me a Mimosa and that suited me fine.

After we ate there were some games that involved questions about the future bride and groom.  I didn't do too well with that because the questions were personal such as "Who likes to sleep late?"  "Which one would rather cook than do the dishes?"  "Who brought up the subject of marriage first?" etc.

When it was time to go home, I was presented with a pot of  flowers that was the centerpiece on our table.  Grandmothers get special treatment. I had to check on my hairdo after Christine asked me if I'd be getting my hair done before the wedding. When she explained why she had asked, I felt better.

The wedding party would be getting to the hotel early to get their hair done, manicures and even massages. I decided to pass on that as I knew I'd have all I could do to get there on time as we were not staying overnight at the hotel.  And I was right. Michael and I arrived at the golf club in Williamstown, N.J. where the wedding was held, just 20 minutes before it started.  That location is 2 1/2 hrs. away from here.

John and Christine wrote their own vows and as Christine declared before giving hers, they were a lot shorter than John’s. John started his by saying he "was up all night writing" his.  Part of what he said was that the minute he saw Christine he knew he was going to marry her.  He choked up as he said that and the man who l was sitting next to began tearing up. That man was my son Michael. Christine cried and I cried but it was more unusual to see so many of the men crying.  Christine has two sons, Kyle and Dennis, and John is crazy about them.  He mentioned them in his vows and I looked over at them and saw them beaming.

When John and Christine told the boys they were getting married, the oldest one, Dennis, started to cry with happiness. Jasper, 9 yrs old, walked back down the aisle with one of Christine's boys, 11 and 8 yrs old, arm in arm on each side of her. There was a lot of oohing and aahing and clapping over that.

John’s father, Scott was another man who shed a few tears and I believe the father of the bride did also. My daughter, Patricia was unable to attend, due to poor health, but we sent her a lot of videos.  My other grandson, Ryan was the best man. I remember hearing Michael telling someone that I did not walk into the reception room, I danced in. I did a lot of dancing otherwise, including the Twist with John and a few with Ryan, who I didn’t  even know knew how to dance.

One of the women who was in the wedding party put in a request for me for the Electric Slide, one of my favorites.  I tell people that I may not be able to walk too far anymore but I can always dance.

Absolutely no one had more fun dancing than Jasper, Vicky’s granddaughter, who spun around so much, we were all afraid she would get dizzy and fall.  Vicky is Patricia’s oldest and best friend. That group of four came all  the way from the state of Washington to attend the wedding.

They all slept at my house and every morning picked up breakfast sandwiches of bacon, egg and cheese for everyone, no matter what else was going on. There was Jasper, Vicky's granddaughter and Meredith, Vicky's daughter and her girlfriend, Sarah. They all stayed here for three nights.  They flew home the day after the wedding so that Jasper would be home for Halloween.

I got a chance to introduce Scott, who is my ex-son-in-law to people as my favorite out law. We both get a  kick out of that.