This past weekend I watched my second youngest cousin, Caroline, get married. It was a fantastic ceremony, with one of the most memorable father-daughter dances I've ever seen. She's basically a Disney Princess, so when they started out waltzing to a song called "Cinderella", I wasn't shocked (except that her dad, who has two left feet, wasn't tripping over her massive dress). Her hairdresser handed me tissues and we both sniffled together. Just as the song seemed to reach it's tearful climax, it stopped.

...and dropped the beat. "Brick House" started playing, and my Uncle was doing the Robot while Caroline busted out her best dance and cheerleading moves.

Epic.

The best thing about the wedding besides the part where Caroline got married (and maybe Uncle Doug's sweet new moves) was being in a beach house with my extended family. My dad's side of the family is huge: he is the eldest of four siblings, and though many of my cousins were not in attendance, there were still between 13 and 18 people coming in and out of this massive three-story house.

For me, I learned that my problems with Darth Metus are not unique to me. It seems this Sith Lord has plagued the women in my family from my grandmother, Nana Jean, down the line to me. My aunts, my female cousins - almost all of us have had to deal with the Dark Side, and the encouraging thing is knowing they faced down the Sith and won.