#104 - WG

This post is about a friend who started out as the brother of one of my best friends and Jeff's best friend, and became our friend too.  Got that?  He is several years older than us, so when we were in high school, he was really not around.  I vaguely remember him doing fraternity stuff at LSU when we travelled to B.R. for weekend games, but not anything specific.  The change came about when Jeff and I got married  (side shout out to my hubby!!!  Our 17th wedding anniversary was yesterday!  Happy Anniversary!  I Love You!).  We moved into a rockin apartment complex behind a certain bank on a certain blvd. in our town.  #104 also lived there.  For the next year or so, I remember lots of fun.  Games of Pedro and Buray (spelling?).  Lots of gumbos and BBQ.  Trading books (me) and CDs (Jeff).  In short...Good times...Good times.  #104 was a bachelor at the time, but a few short years later, he met a girl from the Golden State and got engaged.  Jeff was asked to be in their wedding, so we packed up and headed West for a vacation. 

Anyone ever seen the movie Vacation with Chevy Chase?  Well, this is about the same type of trip.  Let me hit the highlights.  Flew into SanFran for a few nights prior to wedding.  Got lost in Chinatown on the streetcar.  Kinda scary...  Couldn't see Alcatraz or the Golden Gate Bridge because of fog and rain.  Did you hear me say rain?  Stay tuned for more on that subject.  Traveled to bride's smaller hometown for the wedding festivities.  Too many crazy incidents to recount all of them but let me try a few...

*Certain groomsmen getting into a fight in the hotel bar
*Certain groomsmen slamming other groomsmen's girlfriend's hands in the car door.
*Certain families duking it out in the car to and from the wedding rehersal dinner complete with lots of f-bombs and screaming.
*The most rain CA has seen past, present, and future including flooded roads and homes.
*A rehersal dinner at a winery where the cajuns asked "Where's the beer?"
*Certain members of the wedding family getting drunk, a little tipsy on the wine at the winery, and then taking over the microphone.  (And the birth of Albe's nickname)

I could go on...but I won't.  All's well that ends well.  The wedding was beautiful.  The reception was wonderful.  We met lots of new friends in the bride's wedding party and family.  I'm making fun of the trip, but it really was fun.  So, after the wedding was over, a smaller group of us decided to head to Squaw Valley for some snow skiing at Tahoe.  But...we ran into one tiny little wet problem.  You will recall I said it was raining.  This means it was also snowing, and I mean a blizzard.  Roads closed.  Ski resorts closed.  Could not get there.  Our ski lodge where our reservations were was closed.  So here we were, about 6-7 LA refugees with no place to go, like New Orleanians after Katrina.  Couldn't go home...airlines closed.  Couldn't go skiing...mountains closed.  Couldn't stay in bride's small town...flooded.  So after much conversation, we called an old friend, of a friend, of a friend's mom who use to live in Houma about 20 years before, but had remarried and moved to CA and was now living in San Fran.  We invaded her home, ate her food, slept on her floor (with her cat, may I add), went to the movies, shopped at the mall, played cards, and had a wonderful time.  (Thanks again to her and her new husband for their generous hospitality!)

This post has digressed from #104, but whenever I think of him, this is what pops into my mind.  He and his wife still live in CA and are the proud parents of a beautiful daughter who is now a teenager, and just last year, they adopted a beautiful baby boy.  I have not had the chance to meet their son yet, but I think enough time has passed that maybe we can start making plans to visit them again.  Jeff and I miss #104 living so close,  but I will admit it's fun to have old friends, good memories, and cool places to plan vacation visits.