anniversary

it was early evening when we arrived. my aunt and uncle had set up round tables with white table cloths throughout the backyard. each table with a heartshaped glass center piece with beige rocks and floating candles. embarrassingly, we arrived just as they had started serving the food (my uncle has a reputation for being an amazing grill chef). it was the usual fare - rice, beans, steak, chicken, and salad. salsas and tortillas on request.

there were nearly a hundred people sitting and circling, socializing around the house as daylight began to dim. usually once the sun sets, the heat begins to wane, but last night was an unusually hot and humid night. our clothes hopelessly sweaty and wrinkled. no hair products could save our messy hairdos.

our cousins, now mostly in their twenties, have children ranging in age from 15 to one year old. many of the next generation - in the toddler/terrible two age range - possess the ability to cry on command to be drawn into someone's arms or to receive a sip of pepsi. i say "command" because once the request is granted, the crying stops. kids are pretty crafty that way.

once the sun had completely disappeared, some of my cousins and aunts made the rounds to light some of the raised candles and tiki torches that had been set up around the yard. my sister and i thought that with all the kids running around, raised candles seemed like a house fire waiting to happen.

the closest call was when nathaniel, all of two years old and making the most of it, grabbed a tiki torch, lifted it out of the grass and started to wave it around. i saw it happening as if it were in slow motion. i wanted to say something but the words were stuck in my mouth and then i heard one of my cousins yell for someone to take the tiki torch away from him. gabriel, nathaniel's uncle, my cousin, came to the rescue, but promptly dug the tiki torch - lit - right back where it had been!

after a while someone started playing CDs - mostly cumbias and rancheras. my uncle frank and aunt juanita got up to dance. one of my favorite things about the two of them as a couple is that they love to dance together.

the sons made toasts to their parents. an 28 year old photograph of the two of them emerging from the church on their wedding day was unveiled. a couple of friends from the church took out an accordion and guitar and started playing some of the old music. the husband of one of my cousins soon joined in beating out percussion on an empty beer bottle with silverware.

a lot of the women got up to dance, especially the cumbias. for some sons, three generations of women graced the concrete patio that served as our dance floor. a house light over the patio gives more detail to the dancers than to tables.

watching the dancing, but also watching my aunts and cousins age, the children grow, makes me feel like i'm watching an epic movie of everyone else's life. their joys and the chaos just right.

@>-->>---