No one from the prince's family believed the prince's marriage would last, until one day, his beautiful princess bride revealed she was with child. A little baby boy named David was born. He was an absolute joy and the most absolute perfect baby of all time.
In fact, it's been said, that his magical smile and unforgettable laughter helped smooth out the strained relationship between both his parent's families, allowing them to live in peace. Who knew, his powers of charm would be needed once again?
The anniversary party began almost a week ago, as my entire family cleaned and decorated our entire backyard and prepared the food for the anniversary party this past Sunday.
Drama had already begun, when my mother had to tell last minute RSVP-ers that they could not come, since this was a formal sit-down dinner with only so much seating and so much food. One of the people most upset, was my Tia Marie.
She had invited all our family from Texas and was super pissed when my mom had to tell her to dis-invite family. In fact, she sat throughout the entire dinner with her arms crossed, claiming she wasn't hungry or thirsty. Talk about being an over-grown brat!
Then there was the issue with the party coordinator. She felt that the head table had to be special and stand out, so she used a cotton candy pink and white striped tablecloth. Sure, it was a garden party, but aren't candy-looking tablecloth better for a circus than an anniversary?
At least, that's what my Tia Daisy thought. She and the coordinator had a big verbal fight over what the head table should look like, and it wasn't until I suggested we move the odd-looking table to the middle, which would change the head table but still keep the weird tablecloth, that peace was restored in our backyard.
I don't know what the hell the coordinator was thinking when she suggested the ugly tablecloth, and I felt bad that the servers my mother hired had to deal with her for the next few hours. According to them, she was a monster inside our kitchen walls.
The hours devours were not allowed to be served until a certain time, which meant guests that arrived early, would have to sit around outside and wait. The appetizers waited for so long, they ended up getting soggy and messy, which ruined the first hour of the party.
That and the unexpected guests.
People brought their dogs. Which wouldn't have been a pain, but they weren't even cute dogs and they weren't even trained to be still or quiet.
The mariachi band we hired arrived late and didn't know the words to some of classic songs.
And our little old German lady neighbor gave the oddest toast: "Here's to Mike and Ruthy and another 25 years. Well, ten, actually, since that's when our Savior comes back to earth."
I did my best to try and keep the party easy and laid-back by helping serve the drinks and food, start conversations between friends and family and being an all-aroun-charming-go-to type of guy. It wasn't my job, but I knew it had to be done. All in all, we really should have stuck with our original plan: a trip to Hawaii, with my parent's renewing their vows at sunset at the beach. Because, the more you try to make something perfect, the more un-perfect it becomes. My mom tried to have the perfect anniversary dinner and nothing went as planned. Which is kind of expected when you come from a family that is known to be loud and unexpected (hello, we are Mexican). Still, when you can make Spanish Fly from lemons, can you really complain? Lesson learned.
Next time, we eat Taco Bell in Hawaii and call it a day. Or a party.

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