My youngest sister Mikel got married this past weekend....which I’m actually still processing because she is the youngest of the 7 Kearns kids and I just can’t comprehend her being someone’s wife…..not for any other reason than she was my baby!
When she was a kid, she used to climb into bed with me, I took her everywhere with me when I was in High School. When I did not get a part in the school play, she bought me an orange dinosaur to cheer me up (which I still have, it’s now 23 almost 24 years old). She was there when I was dropped off at College and came back for my Graduation. She wrote me letters and drew pictures for me while I was away; I still have all of them. She was the one I called when I made the move from IL to MA and was having a meltdown because I could not get everything packed...she was 17/18 years old and talked me off the ledge...and never told anyone how much I swore or that I cried!
Mikel helped me paint my apartment, celebrate my 30th birthday and nursed me through a breakup with what’s his name. Mikel has kept my secrets and grounded me when I’ve started to take myself and the world too seriously.
Mikel was there was Lucy was born....gave Lucy her own dinosaur.....and then agreed to be Lucy's Godmother.......
And now she is married……to a Yankees fan….
Quite some time ago, Mikel asked her 5 sisters, her sister in law, her future sister in law and her best friend to stand up for her. We all agreed. She also asked her brother to stand up for Winston; he agreed.
So that’s 8 maids a milking, 8 groomsmen ushering, one bride a blushing, one groom a grinning, 4 parents (his and hers) beaming and 140+ guest a coming…..
We wore floor length navy blue dresses with closed toed shoes (I mention this because I was super excited I did not have to shave my legs or get a pedi). The groom and his groomsmen wore tuxes with a vest and Mikel wore an ivory strapless dress with a ruched bodice. We all looked stunning (hair done, make up done, double sided tape and pins strategically placed….)
Rehearsal dinner was Friday at the Sea Dog (a New England dinner….no, not beans, hot dogs and brown bread; clam chowder, mussels, and a steamed lobster with corn on the cob and corn bread!)
Mass was at St John’s in Bangor, the Reception was at the Hilton in Bangor.
Now as we all know, planning a wedding is stressful enough; but planning it with such a large party is even more stress….and there were a few tears, snipes and snaps along the way but for Mikel had every detail planed right down to a classy T – and it was, hands down, one of the best Weddings I have ever been to.
Highlights of the Wedding Week:
John (brother) and his family arrived the Saturday, August 14 from Tulsa, OK. He, Christina, Jack (6), Gregory (4) and Alexander (almost 2) stayed with us Saturday night. We had a cookout, walked down to Mr Charlie’s for ice cream and the camped out on the living room floor (ok, it was an impromptu camp out as we went to blow up the air mattress and discovered the pump was broken)
We (Sean, Lucy and I) got to stay with Aunt Marie and Uncle Bill.
Auntie M gave Lucy a pail…she filled it with acorns collected in the driveway…and rocks.
Thursday night, we had a cookout down at Mum and Dad’s house. It was great fun to watch all the cousins: Cooper, Jack, Gregory, Alexander and Lucy playing together…..until Lucy fell off the deck and scraped her face on the patio stone….wicked shiner for the Wedding. She’s tough though; she cried for 15 seconds and then demanded to be put back down so she could keep playing with Alexander.
We went out to UB’s farm in Newburgh (Home of Rickey Craven) for a long walk (an expotition, just like Pooh went on with all his friends to find the North Pole). We saw turkey feathers, UB’s gardens, a brook and collected lots and lots of rocks
The morning of said long walk, we were waiting for Christina so we could head to the Farm…I said to Jack, does your Mum always take so long?
Yeah, he replied, with his hands in his pockets as he was kicking at stones…….but Daddy takes longer
On the actual Wedding Day, Jack, Gregory and Alexander came down to Mum and Dad’s house while we were getting ready. The boys were all dressed in their suits.
Jack, I said, you look really nice…he responds with Yeah well if I had a mask on, I’d totally look like Darth Vader!
Speaking of Darth Vader, Jack does a great Darth Vader impression, you know, the breathing thing? He taught Lucy…..she’s been busting out with it at random moments….
When we were walking down the aisle at the start of the Wedding, I of course scanned the crowd for Sean and Lucy. And there they were…Sean looking handsome in his blue silk jacket holding Lucy who was dressed in a little flouncy white dress adorned with a pink flower at her waist. And in her hair, her Dad had strategically placed a white and pink bow…and I swear I heard her call Mama…but I think it was actually someone coughing.
In the middle of the Mass, the part where they were exchaning vows, someone was making monkey noises....
Lucy had a blast at the Reception; she dominated the dance floor….of course it was during the cocktail hour and there was no dance music playing but she twirled away
During the best man’s toast, we were all sitting at our tables listening with silly grins on our faces….there was a moment of poignant silence in the middle of the best man’s speech as he had just said something really nice when Lucy yells out…MAMA!!! She said Mama! We clapped at our table, a couple of people congratulated me and Lucy kept calling me Mama……Now she won’t leave me alone…..
We drove back to Boston on Sunday; 7.5 hours of car time…usually a 4 hour drive. Not really a highlight but totally worth mentioning. I’ve been making this drive back and forth for 10 years now and have never seen the traffic this bad. We usually don’t pick up traffic until Portland; Sunday, the traffic started in Bangor……and continued all the way home…absolutely brutal trip. Sean and Lucy both lost their shit in Portland….we stopped in Scarborough for about 15 minutes and then got back on the road…only to sit for the next 3.5 hours in traffic….then they really lost it at the ME/NH border so we stopped for dinner and crawled the rest of the way home……
So my youngest sister is married, Lucy’s shiner has faded and she’s finally saying Mama
Sean is back up in Maine getting his folk on and last night, our chimney broke…but that is another blog…
Maria, the Mum
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