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First of all, I’ve been waiting for this day for a loooooooooooong time – the chance to do some partying with my Carenbauer coiusins under the happiest of circumstances – Erich’s wedding to Esther Moran. 

BUT 

Here’s what I had for lunch – a lobster roll.  Yes!  I ate more lobster today than I have in the last, oh, 10 years.  And I loved every bite.  And it tasted as good as it looks – making this kind of sandwich is simple when you pulled it out of the water an hour ago!

Now onto the REAL fun!  (Once again I was remiss in taking pictures, but I will take them at the wedding, I promise!) The grounds were spectacular (Once again, the superlatives all seem inadequate to capture my experience).  The quintessential Maine yard, complete with signal flags and a dock on the river.  The day was PERFECT – the weather was warm, the breeze ever-so-slight and the entire scene glistened like a polished gemstone.

As perfect and dazzling as the scenery was, the real thrill was seeing and having the opportunity to talk to my Carenbauer cousins, George, Carl and Christine and their families.  Since I haven’t seen them for a while, I immediately looked for familiarity – like I did with Gordon.  I recognized my mother in Christine, and saw my brother John and cousin Denis Greene in Carl’s face.  George and I share freckled hands and arms. (Is it possible for us to have a Greene reunion – what a trip it would be to see all these people in the same place in the same way I am able to see my Kuglen cousins)  I felt so good just sseeing them and being welcomed into their family celebration. Erich Hamm is just a big blob of happiness, so happy that all these people are there for his wedding – me included.    Georgie boy has 3 lovely girls, Tess, Mary and Annie – each one a gem – and Carl’s daughter Jule is another jewel.  We’re just gettting to know each other, but WOW, I had a great time. 

Tess Carenbauer

Annie and Mary Greene Carenbauer

Jule Carenbauer

Once everyone left, Christine and her boyfriend, Leroy Anderson (not the composer) began telling me about Hopkington New Hampshire, where Chris lives, and an amazing production of Our Town she did back in 1990, in which Erich played George Gibbs.  I didn’t know any of this – Christine’s involvement with the play, which is modeled after the town of Hopkington (where she lives), and the site specific staging of the play in which the characters are in the places Thornton Wilder is writing about.  The conversation was, for me, thrilling and immediate and creative and why didn’t I know about it when it was happening?  Christine and Leroy are talking to me about the play with a remarkable depth of knowledge that can only come from living in the place where the action of the play takes place.  HOW COOL!!! 

Then as I was driving home I thought about Erich and his wedding and the characters of Emily and George in the play, and what Emily talks about as she sits in graveyard in Act III, and paying attention to every small detail because those details are what makes life full and complete.  Here I was having a passionate conversation with my cousin who I never see about a revloutionary piece of American Theatre, and the point of the play echoes the very action of the evening for me – experiencing an intensely intimate and revealing conversation with this cousin about the commonality of our experience – our mothers, our uncles, our cousins, the odd intersections of connections (Gordon knows of Christine and vice versa) and coming together to celebrate our connections.  To paraphrase Wilder:  You don’t realize how much the little things of life – things you did not notice before – really matter.