We danced the night away!

Firstborn is officially married, and what a marvelous time was had by all! This was my first Jewish wedding, and I loved it. There was much ritual and ceremony, some of it stately and solumn but mostly lively, raucous, and vibrant. I'll go into more detail later, but I think my favorite moment was when Firstborn and his bride saw each other for the first time that day -- minutes before the ceremony. Her mother and I had just broken a plate together down in the room where the men had been meeting, and we then hurried upstairs to where the bride sat in a throne-like chair. We hurriedly got into place on either side of her as a herd of well-dressed men stampeded, yelling, up the stairs behind us! They brought Firstborn to see his bride, and to veil her -- to make sure he would be marrying the woman he expected to marry, according to tradition. When he saw her in that chair, in her beautiful gown, a vision of loveliness, and her face lit up when she saw him -- well, that was the first moment when tears filled my eyes.

As the ceremony began, his grandfather, uncle, cousin, sisters, and brother walked in one by one. Then Husband and I on either side of him walked Firstborn up the aisle, up the stairs, and under the canopy. The flower girls came down the aisle -- another triumph for Adorable Granddaughter! She and the bride's niece did a fabulous job strewing petals on the white runner, and went right up the steps and dumped the rest of the petals under the canopy! Then the curtains at the other end of the room parted, and there stood my beautiful daughter-in-law. Her parents walked her up the aisle. Under the canopy, she walked around Firstborn 7 times, with her mother and me carrying her train. Then we moms stepped out from under the canopy, and it became her and Firstborn's first "house", where they separated from their parents and became a family. That was the second time I teared up.

And afterward -- oh man, what a party! Our deejay was Sarah Lewitinn, "ultragrrrl" of Spin magazine and VH1 fame, an old friend of Firstborn's. The first set of dancing was traditional, men with men and women with women. Lively! Fast! Ladies spinning in circles around the bride, men pulling Firstborn in their circles with them! Me with the women, Young'un with the men! Then the newlyweds lifted high on chairs! After that, a wonderful dinner; then more dancing to the usual lively wedding-reception fare. I danced all evening, as did our children and grandchildren. Stepdaughter's two had a ball with the other children there, running in a pack as little kids always do at these affairs. I had a couple of lovely dances with Husband, and also with my dear Firstborn. What a night! The staff were stacking up the chairs and rolling up the tables, and still we all hung out together; family, Chicago friends, New York friends -- sitting on the dance floor talking for a long time.

This morning I'm feeling the night of dancing, especially in my knees (but my feet are fine, thanks to those Hush Puppies pumps! LOL). We'll be checking out of the hotel soon, and heading home. I'll have pictures to post too! For now, I'll just say that yesterday was the best Mother's Day I ever had in my life.