Lunch with Aunties who have maintained Dziadek’s family home. Since neither had seen L in close to two years, there was a lot of doting.

“Does she understand Polish?” asked Aunt A.

“Of course!” Babcia answered. “Every word. And since she went to pre-school these last two weeks, she’s begun speaking it very well also.”

And yet the Girl buried her face in my arms for the first few minutes.

But equally as inevitable was the change that came as soon as cousin R began tickling, chasing, and generally goofing with the Girl.

“You can’t get me while I’m with ciocia!” she squealed every time R approached.

Ciocia became the great hero, always defending L with hugs and little tickles of her own. When she gave L seconds on ice cream, she certainly moved into Most Favored Auntie status.

Yet it was not all tickles and giggles: R is getting married in a week, which means L will experience her first Polish wedding party.

“Do you know how we’re going to dance and sing!” Most Favored Aunt reminded L regularly. Indeed. The wedding is one of the things I’ve been most looking forward to about this visit. There are of course the usual happiness for R that he’s getting married, but there’s more to it than that.

A Polish wedding party is so unlike its American counterpart. It’s a celebration at full power, an all-night adventure in food, love, music, laughing, dancing, libation, chatting, and everything else that makes life wonderful.

And every visit with family and friends, we get some little taste of some portion of that fast-approaching evening.