Welcoming Emily to the Family

David and Emily Ghattas with my sister Carol (on the left) and nephew Nathan (on the right)

Candice and I spent this Labor Day weekend in Chicago at the wedding of our nephew David Brown Ghattas (catchy name, huh?) and Emily Ames. David—an engineer just like his father and grandfather—is the oldest son of my youngest sister Carol and her late husband Raouf. Emily is a wonderful young lady he met while they were both in Istanbul a few years ago. We had the chance to meet Emily at my father’s 90th birthday celebration in 2015, and have enjoyed getting to know her (and now her family) over the past couple of years.

As my nephew Joseph Brown said to me somewhere along the weekend, it is great to be getting together for weddings as opposed to funerals, and I couldn’t agree more.

Families are funny things. When you have a relatively big one like ours (five siblings and lots of nieces, nephews, and in-laws), there are bound to be some differences. The differences in ours are pretty substantial. I’ll just leave it at that. But love trumps all (pun intended), and it was great to see Carol as the radiant mother-of-the-groom, along with Emily and David looking so beautiful, handsome, and happy. Raouf’s family came from all over the U.S. (and Egypt), and it was good to see them after too many years. And David’s younger brother Nathan may win the award for best sense of humor in the whole crowd. His toast at the reception was one to remember.

David and Emily Ghattas celebrate with their cousins from around the world

It was also good to spend an extra day in the city. We saw other family in Chicago and spent quality time with the Crocker family (my other sister Debbie, her husband Mark, and their three girls along with Ashli’s daughter Kate). We had a wonderful time over meals in this culinary destination while also taking the fantastic Chicago Architectural Foundation river tour. This was my 3rd or 4th time, and it is a must-see when you come to this incredible city.