The (1 Cousin -1) Wedding

I was traveling yesterday, but I ought to mention that my cousin's daughter was married on Saturday.  (That would be first cousin once removed.)

This would ordinary pass with little notice - I have a lot of cousins and many of them have children - except for the peculiarity of her husband, Steve. 

Steve and Amy were born on the same day, in the same hospital, barely minutes apart. 

Their mothers recovered in the same hospital room. 

They attended the same school, same high school. 

Now they will be married in the same church on the same day, not even minutes apart.... 

Hey, wait a minute.  That's true about all marriages, isn't it? 
+ + +

The families had already known each other before the kids were born.  It's kind of hard  not to know one another, since the Greater New York Metropolitan Area Easton PA is not.  Apparently, the national news thought this was "cute" and for a while poor cousin Harry was inundated with media calls. [Our common grandfather appears on the earlier post regarding Memorial Day.] 

They were married in the local church and the celebrant was the vicar general of the Diocese.  How'd they snag you? my father asked him.  I'm a cousin to the groom's mother, he replied.  [I think it was 'mother'.]  Well, it's the South Side, and as one of my other cousins - she who shared the same, ah, milk bar with me - once put it: "Whenever I was introduced to people as a kid, I assumed I was related to them somehow."  It wasn't called German Hill because of all the Italians.  And the part where I grew up wasn't called Schwar-Town because my grandmother's family was sparse.  So geht's, as we say, im Leben. 

Their reception was held in the State Theater, an old vaudeville cum movie palace back in the days when movie-going was an experience.  This is the same theater where the annual Freddy Awards are given for high school musicals, named after Fred the Ghost who haunts the theater.  (J. Fred Osterstock is also of German extraction, though not a relative so far as I know.)  A visual tour of the theater is here.  I used to go there to actually see movies. 

Anyhow, they did up the reception in a retro movies way.  A Playbill was printed, featuring the photo to the right on its cover.  The name of the play was "Happily Ever After."  Inside: "Act One: The Wedding" followed by a list of the musical numbers and readings.  Then "Act Two: The Reception" followed by the "Cast Members" (bridal party, etc.)

I thought it sounded like a hoot.