You can’t take for granted marrying into a good family. I am extremely close with my immediate family and they are always there to pick me up during the tough times and pat me on the back during my highs. So I am very fortunate that Tracey comes from a loving and supportive family. They literally greeted me with hugs on my first meeting (particularly her cousin Anthony).
Although Tracey was raised in San Jose, the majority of her family lives in and around New York. Only her mother, father, sister and brother live in California. But her brother Jason will be heading east and moving to New York by the end of the summer.
Tracey’s mother is one of five, having two brothers and two sisters. Each one of her siblings has at least two children and there are four great grandchildren on top of that. On her father’s side he has two sisters; one living in California with one child and the other in New York has three children. For me that is a huge family and not the easiest to keep track of everyone by name, but luckily for me I have spent a lot of time with her family here in New York and have had the opportunity to get to know them.
She is fortunate that many of the cousins are in a close age range and keep in touch regularly. Her cousin Jamie will actually be her maid of honor.
Tracey’s aunt Risa, who is on her father’s side, has a beautiful home in Irvington. Shortly after our engagement she and her husband Israel offered to host an engagement party for us as a gift and a way to bring all of our families together. Prior to the party, Tracey’s father had only met my mother and her husband Stu briefly and my sister Elizabeth had not met any of Tracey’s family. Risa took care of all the planning along with the other hosts including her other Aunt on her father’s side, her father and mother.
Her Aunt Risa prepared an outdoor party in her backyard including a barbecue catered by Tracey’s cousin Stephanie, an outdoor bar complete with wine, Champaign, beer and blended frozen margaritas (my favorite), a DJ and enough desserts to serve another four families. Besides our engagement cake, Risa’s daughter Ariana had her own as she shared her 13th birthday with us at the party. For a teenager willing to allow that in her home is a big deal and one that Tracey and I really appreciated.
Although rain was forecast for the evening we only had a short sprinkle and couldn’t have asked for a better night. Evenings like that remind you how important family is and helps to put life in perspective. With such a beautiful engagement party we now have a lot of planning to make sure the wedding tops it!
