I think it must have been a little more than a year since all four of us were together, but I can't imagine a better reason to get together than to celebrate one of us getting married. So a little back story for those of you who didn't know me in college. Denis, Karl and Eric are three of my closest friends from Hamilton and it all started because of a spider infestation in my dorm sophomore year. Yes, that's right, a spider infestation. Brown recluse spiders to be exact. So when I ran into Karl, he and Eric offered me a spot on their couch while they fumigated the building. Denis was one of their roommates. The other, whom I'll call Eeyore for his inimitable ability to sigh depressingly, shall remain nameless. Well, from there on out we were pretty much inseparable and by the end of the year, Eeyore had moved into his girlfriend's room and I had a permanent place on the couch when I didn't want to talk down the hill to my room late at night. I think one of my favorite moments was the morning that Denis told his then girlfriend that he was going to have brunch with one of his "roommates" and I was the only one in the room.
So suffice to say, we've been friends a long time now and when I heard Denis was getting married there was absolutely no way that I could miss this wedding, even if it meant that I would only be Stateside for 72 hours. Before I even get to the wedding, a big shout out to my Dad for offering to drive me all the way up to Dearborn, Michigan. I know it was secretly a ploy to spend quality time with me in the car, but nevertheless, it was still a 10 hour round trip and I wasn't exactly available once we arrived. But Dad, thank you! It was fantastic to see you and chat away the hours through my travel induced haze on the way North.Once we got there, and dinner with Karl and my Dad had been consumed, it was on to the lovely Cuban cigars that Nick donated to the cause (and were smuggled into the country by me) and after many, many hours of conversation and catching up we stumbled to bed. Ok I stumbled to bed because we'd had to finish the night off in Eric and Karl's room since the bar closed at midnight. Saturday, well Saturday was a lazy day before the wedding. Mostly we just watched the U. Michigan/Ohio State game on TV. Man, do I miss college football now that I'm in Germany. Not that I used to watch it every Saturday or anything like that, but I did like watching a few games every year.
And then all of a sudden it was time for the wedding. It was beautiful. Eric stood up as one of the groomsmen and Denis looked wonderful. It's just amazing to see these guys get married. Karl and I were talking and since neither of us wants to be the last man out, we've agreed that we should just marry each other. Seeing as we share the same birthday (I am 20 minutes older, thank you very much), it would make birthdays and anniversaries extraordinarily easy to remember. Of course then we realized that it might be kind of strange seeing as he's kind of like my brother. . . . so we gave up on that plan for now.
The reception was held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. It was gorgeous. On my drive up to Michigan my dad had been telling me all about this museum, it strikes me as kind of being like some one's attic, a motley collection of all things Americana. As the museum itself describes the place:"It began as one man’s vision to document the genius of ordinary people by preserving the objects they used in the course of their everyday lives. It grew to become one of the largest collections of its kind ever assembled — a remarkable destination that brings American ideas and innovations to life."
And it was a beautiful place to hold the reception. The entire museum was open to the wedding guests. So I have to admit that Eric, Karl and I (Denis got to do the meet and greet thing as groom) spent most of the wedding wandering through the museum. The collection truly is eclectic. On one side of the museum were enormous steam engine trains, every car imaginable, there was an aviation section detailing the progression of the aviation industry. Everything from the Wright brothers to Amelia Earhart and on the other side of the museum was a series of exhibits detailing different periods in American history, most notably the 50s, 60s, 70s and the newer generations X and Y.
Probably my favorite part of the museum though was the aviation section, they had a hands-on station where you could make paper airplanes and test out how far they would go. Eric's snub-nosed wonder was probably the big winner. Although Karl did have one plane that made it over 20 feet . . . . Plus they had a reproduction of the inside of a Boeing jet from the 50s (much smaller) compared to today's planes (much bigger with much higher ceilings).
And then it was time for a little blast from the past. When we were in college sophomore year "our" suite in South dorm was constantly filled with music. I think that year we had 7 or 8 guitars, a bass guitar, keyboard, trombone (Karl's), mandolin, tambourine (don't ask why, I have no idea) and a few other random instruments that I can't remember right off hand. The room was constantly filled with music. I guess that's just the way it is when three of the people are truly, legitimately musicians. Constant music, almost every hour of the day. 
I can't actually remember a time when someone wasn't playing some instrument. So when Eric and Denis got up on stage at the reception it felt just like old times. Of course now, we're all grown up and relatively respectable, but still. I didn't have to work hard to pull out the memory of Denis playing Eric Clapton's "Old Love" when they got up on stage.Around midnight, it was back on the buses to head back to the hotel. Hard to believe that this is over. Denis is officially a husband. Amazing how fast time is flying by now. I guess that's just what happens as you get older.
We made it back to the hotel, after a quick photo op by the "No Hockey Sticks in the Hotel Please" sign. Both Eric and Karl are huge hockey fans and actually used to have a hockey radio show when we were in college with our friend Jack. We went out for an early morning snack at a local joint called the Ram's Horn. Oh the jokes that name spawned the rest of the night.And now I'm off, back to Chicago again for a few more hours before I head back to Frankfurt. It was such a great time, this little trip down memory lane and the chance to catch up on our lives today. A blink and you might miss it reunion with the boys, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Hopefully it won't be another year before we all manage to get together again.
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