02. Whine Parties

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3 or 4… I was one or the other. I remember business and casual. Business casual adult friends and family friends of mom and papa mingling with the whole wine and cheese deal. I remember addressing some of the adults by auntie and uncle or tita and tito even though we were not related by blood because it was a sign of respect thing. It was very Charlie Brown in the sense that my memory can’t seem to produce images of the guest’s faces but the tall legs and pumps and slacks and tables with half full wine glasses at forehead level are very vivid.

1 or 2… My sister was one or the other. My auntie had to follow her around because she was constantly trying to take a grab at all the unattended wine glasses for a gulp. My aunt would have to pull her away and snatch glasses out of her hands, followed by her baby whine being carried out of the room. My parents being too occupied by their guests, wouldn’t notice that I was outside in the backyard riding around on my pink trike. It was one of those plastic low to the ground three wheelers with two small white wheels in the back and a big one in the front with the pedals attached. Man that thing went fast! I can still hear the sound of the plastic wheels crushing and scraping the almost microscopic pieces of gravel on the driveway. It had no brakes so I had to make the thing skid by slamming the pedals to a stop with a scrape crackle crunch. I’d go back and forth and up and down the driveway. It was so cool to see the sky turn from dusky to dark. The backyard silence accompanied by my mom’s cackle reassured me that her attention was still occupied. More time for me and my trike.

No conversations since me being a 2 or 3 year old didn’t entertain adults for more than the few minutes of “dance monkey dance” when it came time to show off my knowledge of the alphabet or whatever it was that I was training to learn. All I wanted to do was play anyway.

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