I got to see my cousin get married this past weekend, and I shocked them all with my face!
No, really. I went up to a few relatives and would greet them, and apparently my face doesn't look like my face. To which I can only say "why, funny you should say that, I actually stole this!" or maybe, "yeah, I just thought I'd take this one out for a spin! Glad you liked it!"
Puts a new literal meaning to game face right?
But aside from that, it could also be because I wasn't expected, and no one really said anything. I mean, my aunt knew and invited me last minute and my mom knew but didn't really tell anyone but my aunt. So I guess with all of the wedding hoopla, the news that "Hey! Georgette will be there with her face!" got lost.
Not that I required a parade. Actually, it was nice to subvert expectation because, well, there was no expectation. I like to start low and build up.
And it was a real fancy wedding. I've been to a total of two in Georgia, so I had a run down of how these things usually work, but man this one was like the kind in the movies. There were name cards with seating arrangements (I did not have one) and cocktails and appetizers, like mini hamburgers and chicken on a stick. And we had to wait on the top floor of this building in Liberty Park where you could squint and see the Statue of Liberty and lots of yachts.
I felt fancy like some NBC sitcom.
Then we went to another floor where the entire dining and dancing would happen.
So I spent the time getting cocktails, feeling like a giant as I ate miniature food, and standing around near my relatives. A lot of it was trying to guess who that relative is and how are we related. Then, because I'm Filipino, it's how do we communicate to one another?
Everyone was really nice and surprised (my face!) because no one really knew I was coming. I think I gave the wrong impression that the rest of the family from Georgia was there, but no. It was just me and my face.
I'm starting to realize how little I know about the goings-on of my family. One cousin was pregnant! And there were so many extra min-cousins that I didn't know about. Since when did my cousins have kids? Granted, I knew they had kids, but I lost track when they had more kids. And then when those other kids grew up, it just confusing. Their faces changed! I wish we'd send out charts at Christmas. That would make it easier.
So I went around with the family, catching up, telling them about my move, which surprised lots of people! So I guess my superstitious nature in not telling anyone was really on point there, because no one--NO ONE--knew that I moved there. Conversations started with "where are you staying?" and were followed up with "and how long will you be there?"
"Forever," I'd say with a laugh, then I'd feel superstitious and fix it with, "we'll see, I guess. Ha-ha!"
But my favorite moment of the night had to be when my cousin, Don, was making the rounds with his lovely bride, greeting people and taking photos, sort of like Cinderella in Disney World I'd imagine. When I went up to surprise him with my new face, he was genuinely taken aback and gave me two hugs--we pulled apart because he wanted to look at said face--and then he pulled his bride over to introduce us. We shook hands, and immediately, they threw their arms on either of my shoulders and posed, smiling in front of us.
Thing is. No one was there to take a picture. They've just been making the rounds for a while that this was the usual method of getting one.
There was an awkward shuffle, as we looked at these three old people who were standing in front of us. One was taking a picture nearby, the other was texting, and the other was putting her camera down. I at first thought that that texting guy would do me a solid--were we related?--and take one maybe. Oh? No? Just texting? That's cool too.
I told Don that I didn't have a camera, and he insisted that someone had to have one at least. He pointed at the three elderly people in front of us for help, and they offered to take a photo if I had a camera. I guess theirs were off limits.
Eventually, I produce my phone and we took some blurry pictures to satisfy everyone, and I now have them on my camera roll, where I refuse to look, because I know that I have a frog smile on. It's the smile I have when I'm actually dying inside.
Thanks again, Universe.