The Reception

 

     Several months ago we got a postcard inviting us to a reception. Steve, a former coworker of C's, got married in Hawaii last December and was having a reception. I was not real interested in going. I had been to events with C's former coworkers. Spending time with a group of people who enjoyed getting as drunk as possible was not my idea of a good time. 

   C wanted to go, but also wasn't real keen on spending time with people who would eventually become too drunk to know what is going on. (I'm not kidding.) He liked Steve and had seen pictures of him and his new wife on Facebook. He tucked the invitation away.

   I forgot about it until last week when C said he was going. It wasn't too far away and Steve had been texting him asking us to come. I thought that maybe C could go alone. The last time I went to a party with his coworkers one of them hit on me, right in front of C.

   Friday C told me that the reception was the following day. He was going to play pickleball with some guys from church, then we would go to the reception. It was going to be casual so neither of had to dress up. 

   After C came back from pickleball, he decided to take a quick shower. I got dressed, did my hair and waited for him. Once we were both ready, we got into the car and drove to the reception.

   It was being held in a flossy hotel in Stillwater. We went inside the hotel and were directed down a hall. When we got to the end of the hall we didn't see anything. There were no reception rooms. C called Steve. He told us to wait and he would come and get us. In a few minutes Steve opened the door and the end of the hall. He was wearing a light coloured shirt, tan shorts and a lei of dark pink flowers. He gave C a big hug. He shook my hand and said he was happy to meet me. I wanted to tell him that we had already met. He had been too drunk to remember.

   It turned out that reception was in a building in the back of the hotel. Outside there a few people playing cornhole. Steve introduced us to his wife who was wearing a white spaghetti strap tank top and denim shorts. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a cute informal up do. We met Steve's dad who was also outside. One we had exchanged a few pleasantries, we went into the building. The reception was upstairs. The room was spacious and had two long tables on one side. There was a small bar and a serving area with some food and desserts. Steve's mom was there looking at all the food and encouraging people to eat it up so they wouldn't have to take it home. It was late when we got there and the food was pretty picked over. We had some vegetables and fruit. I tried a stuffed mushroom which wasn't too bad. There were some sandwiches with dried out meat in them. Across the room was a huge charcuterie board. There were bite sized pieces of cheesecake, key lime pie, carrot cake and chocolate cake.

   I tried the chocolate and carrot cake pieces. Both were very good although I prefer the carrot cake that I make.

   Steve took Charles around and introduced him to all the people that were still there. There were four friends from high school that had come to the reception. This was quite a big deal as some of them live in the upper peninsula of Michigan and had to travel a long way to attend. We met two of Steve's daughters and Steve's brothers and sister.

   It was heartwarming to me to see how happy Steve was that C and I had come. He told C that he still looked the same as he did when they worked together nearly ten years ago. (Somehow he didn't notice that C no longer has long hair.) As interesting as that was, what was more interesting was what I didn't see. There where no other people from the collection agency that they worked at. Not one. Steve must not have invited them. If he had they would have still been there drinking. C was the only coworker invited. That warmed my heart a little more. It made me happy that Steve thought enough of C to want him to be there to celebrate his marriage. I had no idea that Steve thought that much of C. 

   Things were winding down so C and I decided to leave. We said goodbye to Steve and everyone we had met. Steve said he wanted to invite us over for dinner sometime. I'm not sure if he will, but the thought was a generous one. 

   I had a much better time than I thought I would. We were both glad that we went.