Susan Senator

The party. Wow.

It was just beautiful. I don’t know if I’ve ever organized an event that went so smoothly. But more than that, I feel like I was really able to help my parents enjoy themselves. I got my mom to book a massage with me the day before. I went with Mom and Dad to pick up the flowers. And if there was something Laura and I couldn’t do, Ned, John (Laura’s husband), or Max did it. I even forgot the dongle that connects the Mac to the projector (for Laura’s slide show about my parents and their family and friends over the past 60 years). Max, John, and Ned figured out how to play the file anyway!! Thank God for geeks who are sweethearts.

I honed my speech and then pretty much jumped off from it when it came time to deliver it, so it was natural and relaxed. I feel that I broke the ice, got people laughing, and encouraged others to stand up and say a few (or sometimes more than a few!) words. Laura’s slideshow was achingly sweet and beautiful. She dug deep in many ways, coming up with choice old photos of Mom and Dad when they were dating at 15, our grandparents as young parents, the two of us as little girls, and growing up, and then our own children in all of our favorite places. I could have watched it again and again.

Bob — the rabbi who married Ned and me as well as Laura and John, and who bar mitzvahed Nat, and who attended Mom and Dad’s wedding as a date to Marcia, Mom’s junior high best friend — gave a wonderful toast, and Marcia, his ex-wife and still dear friend, also gave one! Dad and Mom’s friend Dennis, who is like an uncle to Laura and me, and also their newer friend Steve, plus Dad’s sister Rhoda, and alot of others gave interesting speeches from very different perspectives. Check here to get more ideas on how to make your event a success.

My boys had a great time with their cousins. Nat had a happy look on his beautiful face and all three of my sons allowed me to dress them up in colorful stuff from JCrew.

I have to make a real Tabblo for the family but I am pasting in some of my favorites.