Time Travel: August 5, 2006

In some calendar years, certain specific dates stick out in your mind.  Some dates (Christmas, your birthday, etc.) are memorable year to year, and others are monumental only once.  For example, May 20, 1989 I lost my first tooth.  (I know the day only because it was Nene's wedding day)  Or Easter 1994 was the one when Al had both a broken finger and three stitches in her head.  June 24, 1994, right when I got home from my piano recital, was the night a tabby kitten showed up in the garage.  More on the kitty another day.... perhaps we can make Time Travel a weekly installment!  For me, today is a one-time monumental day.  Four years ago, on August 5, 2006, darling Ashley married a wonderful man: Jason Kempf.  

Fun story: August 4 is the day I met Jason; I walked out of the shower wrapped in two towels (one for hair, one for body) and there he was on the couch in the basement.  Surprise!  Didn't know he'd be there.  Without skipping a beat, I stuck out my hand and said "Hi, I'm Jules"  I suppose that was kind of the initial test.  What will Jason think of Jules?  He likely thought I was crazy, so he is quite perceptive!  Anyway.  Back to 8/5/06.  

It had been more than three years since Ash, Pannie and I had seen each other, and the reunion was all that it should be: loud and full of screams and hugs and general glee.  Not only did Pannie and I get to spend a little time together (with M, too, of course), but we were finally seeing Ash again!  The duo would finally be a trio again.  Good things come in threes, after all.  Now is a good time to point out that Ash was the first of my friends to get married.  Not only had we finished college and entered into the real world with jobs and paychecks, monthly rent and checking accounts, now Ash was starting to BEHAVE LIKE A GROWNUP!  With a husband and a new last name and a big old party to celebrate.  It was a little crazy to comprehend at first, my first friend acting like an official grownup.  It was a lovely weekend, and the start of many summers with at least one wedding to attend!  

The morning of August 5, 2006 consisted of:

Ash sitting in the kitchen getting her hair done.  (Hi Thomas in the background!)

A lace-up corset-type dress worthy of Gone with the Wind

Pannie telling her joke about the grasshopper walking into the bar to stop the waterworks 

The day continued to celebrate the love that was all around us:

Becky and Roy celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary, Michael helped them cook

Lifelong friends squeezed in some quality time

And two wonderful people were married

Congratulations, guys.  Here's to many more happy years together.  We look forward to sharing in all of the other wonderful celebratory moments in your lives.