Graduation BBQ
Matt Seinberg

Last week I talked about the girl's graduation and prom. I think I forgot to mention that we were also planning a family and friends BBQ to celebrate those events as well. Marcy and I had debated over what to do to celebrate; she wanted to go to a restaurant with just some close family, while I wanted to have a BBQ in our backyard.

I finally convinced her that it wasn't financially practical to go to the restaurant and we would have a better time at home; we could invite many more people. We had some neighbours, friends and lots of family. I always say the more the merrier.

Mellisa and Michelle hoped for presents.

The girls both asked at one point were they going to get presents. I told them that this wasn't a fundraiser: if they got presents that would be great. If they didn't, it was no big deal.

Boy, were we all surprised! Everyone that came gave them each something, and they were very happy about that to say the least. My sister in Illinois sent them each a very nice necklace; Marcy's aunt and uncle gave them lovely bracelets. Melissa is going to use some of her money to buy new sneakers and a cell phone. I have no idea how Michelle is going to use her money. She still owes me some money, hopefully I might be getting some of it.

Marcy bought some Bud Lite Limaritas, which I had never heard of before. It's a malt beverage, with 8% alcohol, and is supposed to taste as does a lime margarita. I had one bottle chilled; it was good, okay but not great. As it turns out, our neighbor Christine is a big fan of them, so Marcy made a deal with her.

Marcy will bring a six-pack of Limaritas to Christine and she can lounge in their above ground pool. I'd say that's a sweet deal, depending on how much they have to drink. It's doesn't take much to get Marcy a little tipsy, so I think it would be funny to see the two of them drunk floating in the pool.

Our other Shawn came, too.

Our other Shawn came over as well, but without his wife and daughter. That's certainly a cue to drink as many beers as he could consume before he had to leave. I think he arrived around 4:30 pm and left around 10 pm. Since he only lives two houses away, I wasn't worried about him.

One thing I really like about having a BBQ is seeing people that we don't get to see all that often. My long-time friend, Greg, lives in the city, but has a weekend house in Connecticut, along with a vacation home in Florida. He and his partner Brian like to travel. We don't get to see them that often. In fact, Brian was supposed to come with Greg, but he had to go to his office to get some work done.

Marcy's Aunt Carol lives in New Jersey and loves coming to family functions, so of course we had to invite her, along with her daughter Kristin who lives in New York City. The girls were thrilled to see them both, but they don't hang onto Kristin as they did when they were younger. I guess getting older does change the way they act.

Our friends Jean and Greg came, with their three kids, Phillip who is six, and their twin daughters, Maddy and Katie who are fifteen months. Just watching them run around the backyard made me tired. These kids had more energy to burn than the Energizer Bunny. For some reason the girls wanted to hang around the back door stoop since they can't do it at home. To me, that's just an accident waiting to happen, so we kept having to move them away. Of course they cried every single time that happened.

Phillip was playing with Zachary and Adam who belong to Marcy's cousin Caryn and her husband Mike. They ran around the back yard like greyhounds on the track. There was no keeping up with them, so why bother trying?

Julia is eleven and David is thirteen; they belong to Gary and Sue, Marcy's other cousins that came. Julia liked playing with the twins, and David came later after another party. They are both quiet kids, so sometimes you don't even know they are around. Michelle used to babysit for them, and I have a feeling they don't need her anymore.

Our next backyard BBQ is in four years.

We've decided the next BBQ will be in 4 years, when Michelle graduates college and Melissa gets out of high school. With all the planning and preparation it takes to hold one of these events, Marcy should recover from this one by then.