Family Affairs

Lots of family stuff this weekend, though not all my family. Sunday night we went to a wedding reception for our friends Maggie and Damon, and yesterday was a surprise going-away party for my aunt and uncle in advance of their move to Arizona, held at my parents' house.

I don't have a ton to say about either event, other than to remark on the similarities between the two.

The reception was grand; it was fun to see the bride and grooms punk-rock friends mingle with the South Side Irish and Italian families, everyone having a good time, conversation groups spontaneously coming together and dissipating as the night wore on. A similar thing happened at the going-away party, although on a much smaller scale (it being less than a quarter of the size). The knots of conversation tended to consist of people who knew each other well, while outsiders were treated politely but distantly -- after all, everyone was there for the same reason, so there must be some commonality, but not enough to bridge the divide.

Myself, I hung in a small, safe group at both events -- I hadn't seen most of Damon and Maggie's friends in about two years, and although I was related to nearly everyone at my parent's party, I only see them maybe once a year at events like this. It was fun to observe, though.

Posted by Andrew Huff at September 2, 2003 02:50 PM