"Weddings & Parties & Other Fun Things"

Last Saturday night I spent at 97 Estoria cellebrating one of my good friends' engagement. Colleen (although I don't know what her new last name will be) is a theatre stage manager who went to Chicago for work (since sometimes we find ourselves going where our jobs take us) in her field but then fell in love and moved to Philadelphia with her new beaux. If you haven't already guessed, she's young, beautiful, and one of the most lively people you'll ever meet so when her best friend in the whole world - Mary, informed me that she was getting married I was estatic for her because she deserves it.

Colleen is a young and hard working person who aspires to get her Masters degree and teach (an altruistic goal if I must say so myself). I on the other hand never ever plan on going to school again and teaching...well, I'm not one to want to spread my knowledge with a bunch of ungrateful little...well, you get the point.

97 Estoria, which is a bar with food (or is that a restaurant with booze?), is lamentable for its great atmosphere and exterior facade that made the evening out fun. There were many people at the gathering cellebrating the numpuals and we went through at least five bottles of wine and three rounds of shots (while I was there since I showed up two hours after everything began).

I've been to many engagement parties, some good and some...well, they were all pretty good because they were parties and who doesn't like a good party? Weddings are a whole other story.

I say that weddings are a whole other story because I've either been in or been to too many of them. Having watched both my older siblings go through their own weddings and eventual divorces and watching my parents go through it (which was all for the good) I don't have fond memory of weddings. I also spent several years as a wedding photographer which didn't improve my outlook any since I detest the brides incistance on certain things when it comes to wedding pictures (usually the groom is no problem but the bride - whole different story). Needless to say, my career in terms of wedding photography was short lived.

Not a big fan of he wedding, but damn if the parties aren't some of the best around.

Like I said, I'm happy that Colleen has all but grown up and is taking a big...no gigantic step in her life (one I haven't entertained the idea yet) and I both comend and envy her and in some respects she's more of an adult then myself.

When I looked into her eyes at the party I saw nothing but pure joy and content. You may think that that's something to be expected but point of fact is that we live in a world in which the idea of marriage doesn't hold the same stature as the reality in which many people get married for the wrong reasons and a divorce can be as easy as agreeing to sign a piece of paper. The institution of marriage holds no weight anymore so when I looked into the joy of what Colleen was...IS feeling I see something pure and simple and innocent and joyful.

Sometimes you forget what pure joy is. You get older and you realize that reality has a way of taking away our dreams and making our nightmares and frustrations a reality. Now I know that Colleen has her own problems as do we all but for that one night on Saturday, May 3rd it is good to know that she may be the happiest person in the world. And I'm just glad that a little of that joy can rub off on me.

Because I really need some.