There were so many neat things about Mari Drummer’s wedding- the beauty of the setting, the gathering of so neat people (many of whom Kathy and I knew), and the special fun of being there with the Barrows, with whom we frolicked in the Dells . . .
and then there was an amazing moment when at the reception when a young man came up to me at the reception, rather hesitantly, asking “are you Greg Berg?” As soon as I laid eyes on him, I knew that I knew him – but why? From where? He said “I’m Ron Barbian.” And I let out what was probably a cross between a war whoop and a scream of delight. Ron is a relative of mine although I can’t tell you exactly what he is to me. His great-grandmother, Marvel, was my mom’s sister. . . His grandfather Ron was my mom’s nephew and my cousin (although my siblings and I think of him as Uncle Ron). . . but that’s already too complicated for me. Are we second cousins-in-law three times removed? I have no idea. (note: my brother Steve just cleared it up for me: this young man and I are third cousins.) But actually the Barrows and other friends have heard me mention this young man whenever I’ve had to explain why my parents decided to call me Greg (my middle name) instead of David (my first name.) The story I heard was that it was at least partly due to the fact that our Milwaukee relatives had two generations of Rons, and they were always referred to as ‘Big Ron’ and ‘Little Ron’ or you had no way of keeping them straight. And this young man makes three generations (although he’s a son of Little Ron’s brother Greg – keeping this straight?) and is known in the family either as ‘Ronnie’ or ‘Baby Ron’ – and he recently graduated from college! So anyway, if I had been David like my dad, I would likely have been ‘Little David,’ which is at least one reason why they decided to call me Greg. And I, for one, am grateful.
Anyway, it turns out that Ron was at this wedding because his fiancee teaches with Mari at Prairie School in Racine. And as he was looking through the printed program and saw my name listed with the musicians, he wondered if it might be me. . . and when he heard me sing, he was pretty much certain. But he was still just a bit hesitant as he came up to me, but I am so glad he made the effort. It was one of those incredible “small world, isn’t it” moments – and life is full of them when you pay attention and aren’t too nervous about acting on your hunches.