Birthday fun and wedding bells

Uncle and niece on her wedding weekend.

Today marks two major events: my birthday and my niece's wedding. The weekend is going to be centered more on the latter than the former and it should be that way. My niece served as my flower girl almost 25 years ago and will be celebrating her own 30th birthday in just another three weeks. She and her fiance, Gary, have been together for a little over a year and I was pleased to meet them both last Carnival while shuttling back and forth from Gallier Hall to the nearby Intercontinental Hotel, where family members had gathered for a brunch. Leslie, like my son for a brief period prior to Hurricane Katrina, was a student at the University of Kansas. I rather liked the campus in Lawrence and was taken with the comraderie there. Leslie and her husband will be living in the Windy Cindy and with the blustery conditions evidenced here so far, it almost appears they brought their weather down with them for the wedding. The party people from Chicago appear to be ready to show they are more than up to the task of making this a weekend for all to remember.