The Belle and the Bull had a Blast

2011_7_18 The Belle and the Bull of the Ball

Yesterday’s celebration of our 50 years of marriage was a splendid, laugh-filled and touching four hours; it was truly an event we will cherish for all the years we have left. It, among all the parties we have held over many years, was special. First of all, Nasima’s ‘slide show’ of 35 images over the years, starting with our baby pictures, went over well and kept repeating itself on TV screen for 3 hour. We chose Joanie Mitchell’s song “The Circle Song” to accompany the flow of pictures, which was an excellent choice, and Nasima timed the song with the last image, the two things absolutely in sync. The first photo after the baby pictures was the Polaroid of the two of us in 1960, the year of our first intimacies and feelings of deep love, at a party with Sue, a very lovely 20-year-old girl, sitting on my lap while I laid a kiss on her cheek. Many people could not believe that the handsome dark-haired skinny fellow kissing her was me. Alas, that small peak of a man grew into a mountain of a man. The very last slide in this parade of images was the reverse situation: Sue is kissing me on the cheek and it looked like she had to climb the mountain to do it. As a matter of fact Nasima picked 15 pictures where we are either kissing or hugging. That was close to a revelation to our audiences who really don’t know or see as us as a romantic couple. Our daughters planned the whole thing with little consultation with us. They chose Greek food because I love Gyros and Suzie loves dolmas. There was a bucket of meat and Tdzekie sauce, along with peta bread, humus, a big salad, and for dessert we had Baklava with vanilla ice cream or watermelon. The watermelon tasted good and was cooling because most of us ate outside under the covered patio despite the 103 temp and the high humidity. It did rain for about ten minutes. After everyone had their fill two musicians in the group got up, a violinist and a flutist did their thing for a short while, which was a pleasant interlude. Then Nasima and Kaia came out of the house with two trays of small paper cups full of champagne. I like the funky touch of paper cups as opposed to elegant glasses. Many toasts were offered, as were many nice things about Sue and I. The memory book is in process, as Nasima has all the cards and commentaries and she will be the one to tie it altogether in a book. I read just a few of the cards and I must say the love and respect for us doth flow like a river.

The spirit of the party was gleeful and buoyant; the chatter was none-stop and various and amusing. Laughter rocked the patio and the shrieks of the kids in the pool added to the upsurge of good vibes percolating through this assembly of 30 hearty guests. I was in extremely good humor as I had taken some canelo prior to going to the party. One of our old hippy-dippy friends had a laugh that could be heard for blocks—a most hearty guffaw. This guy had gone to Europe and India in the sixties and recently, after writing 15 versions of the story, self-published the book, which he titled WANNA SMOKE? He had come to the party without his dentures; he somehow had forgotten them. No problem he said, I’ll drink my dinner. Ryder ran around naked all during the party, just like his mother used to do when she was 4 years old. Liam is now 10 years old and has long hair for the first time and he looked good.

Four couples did not make the party, two because they were out of town. One individual didn’t make it, although his wife and son did. That would be my ex-pool partner. It was a big disappointment with no explanation.

I managed to get through the party on one canister of oxygen.

The “belle and the bull of the ball “ had a blast.