My aunt, Margie, is the mom of my ten-year-old cousin C (whose full name I'm not using because I think it might be weird to identify a ten-year-old on the Internet). C is an awesome kid whose interests tend to run toward science, completely withdrawing into his own head to read for hours (VERY much like his cousin Octo here), figuring out math concepts, and sharing little-known facts. Based on his usual hobbies, likes, and dislikes, he would not have been my first guess as to which of our kid attendees was going to celebrate the wedding with the most abandon.
I was wrong, though. In fact, at one point during our wedding reception, Bridesmaid/Cousin Katie observed, "I think C is having an out-of-body experience. His soul has left his body and the spirit of Michael Jackson has taken its place." C spent the entire wedding reception dancing like a madman. I laughingly told Aunt Margie after the wedding that I had no idea that C was capable of such theatrics, and she laughed back that she hadn't either, and added that, after the wedding, C sat back and announced, "that was, like.........the greatest day EVER."
Well, apparently, the good times we all had at the wedding made an even bigger impression on C than I had thought. What was in the thick envelope? Oh, only my own personal copy of my cousin's illustrated personal narrative that he wrote for school this month....
The dedication page reads, "To Carrie & Ken (us), the brand new happy couple, and to my mom and grandma, for helping me figure out I could dance."
And now, without further ado, my cousin's personal account of his experience at our wedding.
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The Wedding Reception
We were on our way to the wedding reception, about thirty minutes after the wedding ceremony, and when we got there, there was a working mini roller coaster on the roof of the building.
"That's so cool!" I said. First I played with my cousins for a while, then I went inside to disguise myself in the large crowd. Then, my mom found me and handed me my table number, Table 14.
When we got to the tables, I found my table was all the children at the reception. Once we finished our food, me and all the other children played freeze tag, and two of the girls I was playing with played HARD-CORE, I literally got jumped on by them. When we finished I was sweating like crazy. Then I watched the pendulum, something that swings back and forth turning slightly, one or two inches every 15 minutes, proving that the earth is turning, and everyone loved that.
Then dessert came, I didn't have any for a while, but when I decided to get a cupcake, the rack of cupcakes was gone, replaced by a bunch of.....dancers. Oh no! I thought. I was always so sensitive about my dancing. I always freaked out when I did it in public; I was so worried everyone would laugh at me.
"No, I don't want to be scared about it anymore!" I said, and all of a sudden I went in. At first, I didn't really do much, I just stood there. Then I did the first thing I could think of.....acting crazy. If I was running, I would have gone a really long way. I kept doing crazy dance moves until my throat felt as dry as a desert, and I got very tired. My dad got me a drink and I calmed down, and I was ready to dance a bit more.
(Corey Ann Photography.)
I was on the dance floor for about ten minutes, then....
"You spin my head right round right round." YES! I always thought it was a pretty good song. So while they were playing that song, I was spinning around like crazy and that was a lot of fun. But then the song changed and everyone formed a circle. Oh no! I hate these even more! I thought. Some people went in right away, and my brain felt like mush. They're all so good, I thought. Then, before I knew it, I went in.
Cousin C in the middle of the circle. This may be the exact moment that his Michael Jackson spirit possession began. (Corey Ann Photography.)
I could hear my heart pumping in my ears, bump, bump, bump, the suspense building up, then, I danced like I had never danced before. I did a somersault, I did the wave, I moved my feet around like crazy, then, tap, tap, SLLIIIPPP, and down I went! But right as I was about to hit the floor, I caught myself, and turned the fall into another dance move. The crowd cheered loudly and I came out of the circle.
"Wow, that was exhilarating!" I said once the circle broke apart.
Please spot Cousin C slightly in the background, fully possessed at this point. Note: the two little girls in the direct foreground are, in fact, the HARD-CORE players of freeze tag. (Corey Ann Photography.)
After all that, some slow dances came on, and I slow danced with my grandma and my sister a bit. My grandma loved that. Then, my sister and dad left, but my mom and me stayed because I wanted to dance a bit more. At 11:03 PM, the reception ended and I was really tired. When we got back to the hotel at about 11:35, and when I finally closed my eyes to fall asleep, I fell right into a long, deep slumber.
About the Author
I am ten years old and in fifth grade. My favorite sports are skiing, soccer, and baseball.
What inspired me to write this story was all the fun I had at the best wedding reception ever! Also because it was the day I figured out I could dance! Now that is a day I am going to remember!
In the future I hope to become a chemist or engineer and to have great, reliable friends that I can trust. But most of all I wish that World Pollution would end for good. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
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Greatest Thing Ever, am I right? Hilarious. Adorable.
Seriously though, I'm honestly really touched that attending our wedding was such a fun and memorable experience for my cousin. I haven't been to a wedding where children were invited since I was a kid myself, so I wasn't quite sure how having so many young guests would play out. Now, though, I'm so, so glad that the kids were all there, especially since the experience was so special and fun for them.
(Side note: Mr. Octo's sister polled her two young daughters about their favorite aspects of the wedding. Their answers, in order: me, my wedding dress, my veil, my bridal bouquet, and dancing at the reception. Their uncle did not make the cut. Ha!)
(Side note 2: the same little girls wore matching dresses to the wedding. Upon seeing my bridesmaids, the big sister exclaimed to the little sister, "oh, look! Those girls are wearing matching dresses too!" A-DORABLE.)
Will you have kids at your wedding? Anyone else have any cute kids-at-weddings stories to share?
Love this story!
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