While Rhonda drove some of the guests in her SUV to the wedding site (about a half-mile away from the East Rockaway home), Glenn and I began to walk to the same location - accompanied by two male members of the groom's family. Luckily, it was a very sunny day with temperatures in the 70s and very low humidity - so strolling all that way there in formal outfits wasn't uncomfortable for any of us.

Five blocks later, we'd reached our destination. It was a very small park with a pier overlooking a canal (where small motorboats cruise up and down the waterway). And on the other side of the canal is a local yacht club, where a number of its members - most of them dressed in sailor suits - had converged for a separate ceremony that differed from the nuptials taking place on my side.

In the middle of the park was a very tall gazebo, that was decorated with white flowers and linen ribbons. Some members of both families were already seated in the shade of the gazebo. A Public Address system was playing some apropos music (some romantic pop tune from the 1980s), over and over again, as more wedding guests arrived.

It was at this point I began to recognize some of my own relatives - from both Mom and Dad's side of the family - arriving one by one for the ceremony.

They included my cousin Sheryl - who I last saw in 2006, around the time of Mom's passing; my cousin Steven - one of three brothers who was the only family member who could make it; cousins (from another family) David and Lisa - who usually would 'rib' me for not remembering them (considering that I hadn't seen them in years); and, of course, my ex-brother-in-law Paco - who had brought along a daughter from his current marriage (Erica and Corynne's half-sister).

Another last-minute arrival was Rhonda's best friend Elizabeth - a flight attendant for a major airline - who I also had not seen since the early 2000s.

As all the wedding guests began to get seated around the outside of the gazebo (and that lone pop song continued to drone on over the P.A. system), a limousine pulled up in the parking lot. Exiting the vehicle were the bride and groom. Corynne was adorned in white, while Hector was decked out in his light blue garb (including his hat and shoes, which were a darker shade of blue).

As the couple slowly approached the altar in the center of the gazebo, the music on the P.A. system was turned down, and an instrumental 'new age' piece replaced it.

"I suppose it's a nice change of pace from 'Here Comes the Bride'," I thought to myself.

After all of the attendees (including myself) took the obligatory photo-ops of the bride and groom, the music was turned off, and the traditional ceremony was about to begin...

Instead of a minister, priest, or Rabbi, the wedding was conducted by another one of my sister's friends - who was actually licensed to perform weddings. It was going to be one of those ceremonies where the bride and groom create and recite their own marriage vows, while said conductor improvised her own dialogue - throwing in an occasional joke or two along the way.

"Great!" I'd said to myself. "Another Neil Simon scenario!"

As Rhonda's friend described the virtues of wedded bliss, I began to hear music again. But it wasn't coming from the P.A. system, as it was already unplugged.

"Where is that music coming from?" I'd quiried to myself.

My attention was suddenly focused on the yacht club across the canal. A small band was performing next to the sailors, in a rather slow instrumental beat. Then, the music began to turn somber, and it was at that moment I'd realized what was going on...

The yacht club was holding a military funeral for one of their own - at the same time a wedding was taking place on the other side of the canal!

I should've taken it as an omen, when the groom was asked, "Do you, Hector Duprey, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?..." at the exact moment a trumpeter at the yacht club began playing "Taps"!

I was trying to ignore the depressing music across the waterway, putting out of my mind the conductor's made-up monologue, and even the fact that Paco was seated next to my sister under the gazebo. After all, they ARE the biological parents of Corynne, and this was HER moment to shine...

Then, I got distracted by one more thing.

As the couple began to recite their respective (improvised) vows, I saw a black spider (about the size of my thumbnail) climbing up and down one of the gazebo's vertical posts. Apparently, it accidentally got tangled in a piece of the white linen ribbon decoration, and it was struggling to find a way to escape from it.

"I know exactly how you feel, buddy."

Well, the spider did manage to free itself from the linen, but now presented a new problem: It was now crawling on the back of Cousin Lisa's blouse!

I wanted to alert Lisa about the arachnid's proximity to her body, without freaking her out. So, I'd leaned over and whispered in her ear...

"Er, Lisa?..."

"Oh, NOW you remember who I am!" she whispered back.

"There's something on your blouse..."

"I'll brush it off after the ceremony. I want to see Corynne and Hector get hitched!"

At that moment, the situation intensified, when the spider got to the bottom of the blouse and went underneath - trapped between that garment and Lisa's dress...

I couldn't 'sugar-coat' things anymore, and finally blurted it out, softly...

"You've got a spider on your blouse!"

My cousin's eyes widened, as she looked behind and quickly attempted to brush the bug off of her person. She panicked, but at least she panicked quietly (so as not to start a riot)!

She eventually knocked off the spider, who landed on the ground, and chose an unorthodox hiding place: poised where the edge of the gazebo's shadow and the sunlight met. Lisa didn't bother to step on it, as she wanted to watch the end of the wedding ceremony. So she turned back towards the couple at the altar...

"I pronounce you husband and wife," said the conductor. And the silence of that moment was follow by a cacophony of clicking cameras and smartphones, followed by a round of applause for the newlyweds.

Now that the main event was over, I'd felt a sense of relief. I could now properly hang around with some of my long-lost relatives and mull over the past with them... both there in the park, and later on during the reception (which was a much shorter walk away from the gazebo than I'd thought).

(To be continued...)