Memorial Day Celebrations
Red, white, and blue was the order of the day for Irene/Gram/Mom/Great-Grandma's 89th birthday. She started out the day at a very early hour, having the weekly shower, whether she needed it or not. This always tuckers her out; not that there's so much to wash, but that the thought of being all sudsed up and perhaps slipping in the soap might necessitate bringing in strangers in the form of emergency help, and this would be much too much drama for early on a Sunday. She reports that all went well, and all parts were cared for. (She had washed up as far as possible, down as far as possible, and yes, you know the rest, "possible" didn't get touched. :)
She was so amazed at the amount of red, white,and blue decoration that had been attached to her scooter, that she decided to add to the effect by wearing everything in her wardrobe that had any or all of those colors. Right down to the shoes, she was the picture of Betsy Ross, or Martha Washington, or, maybe, Rube Goldberg's wife! You see, even with birthing four beautiful children (eat your heart out, you in-laws!) they can't all be counted on. One insists on having someone chop out his knee, one is running to the other coast for beaches when we have plenty right here, and so the eldest and the youngest were left to do the decorating of the scooter for the annual Memorial Day parade at Maralago Cay. Irene was so excited, she arrived at the clubhouse almost an hour early. No one could believe the sight: woman on scooter, but scooter is not visible due to excessive red-white-blue stuff hanging, dripping, blowing in the wind. Banners, flags, pinwheels, ribbons, flowers, you name-it, and it was red or white or blue on that vehicle. And there were leftovers of the dec's, as Jean, bargain-hunter that she is, sent John, scavenger that HE is to get plenty, and Joanne had a case of the Excessives, so we further decorated Christian's trike and Evangeline's stroller. The baby even had flowers on her pigtails. Together they all lined up and entered the parade.
Skipping many funny details like Mom sitting, early, on her scooter at the ticket table inside, greeting everyone, reminding them it was her birthday, and Christian riding around on that low trike, not being visible to the naked senior-citizen eye and jeopardizing many an old fart into what could have been severe accidents, we all awaited the flag raising and the following bar-b-que. Why they had this on Sunday instead of Monday, the holiday, is anybody's guess. All the church folks were piously peeved that by the time they arrived the baked beans might be gone. The military folks, in charge of the flag-raising, were perturbed that the buglers from Santa Luces HS band slept in, resulting in our having a tapless affair. The flag-raiser guy got the ropes tangled, but, being military, he figured it out in no time, and saved us from having to let the Old Glory touch the ground and require burning. Instead, they replaced the hurricane-ravaged old flag with a new one, and the acompanying Moment of Silence for those who gave their lives in the service of our country was shortened to a half-minute, in view of the 92 degree heat.
But, lest you think I am poking fun at the poignant moment of it all, I do apologize. The ceremony was very necessary, as we were all about to eat birthday cake, fresh corn, and all the fixins, and if it weren't for our military men, we couldn't even have this much fun. That was the trouble with them shortening the prayer time: we had to thank GOD for Uncle Bob, who flew the B-24's in the Pacific Rim, George's Dad who did radar, our Dad who shot guns in France when he wanted to do chemistry research, Trace, who went too many times to Iraq, Jay, who is in Okinawa when we want him home, and others.
Well, you all missed the cake, shared with the whole bunch of geizers, you missed Gram and Christian accepting their first and second prizes ($10 each) in front of the gathered masses, and Gram having to listen to many war stories brought on by the Memorial Day/birthday celebration. She did not use a cane, drove her scooter, bangles and all, right into the luncheon, and forgot how fast it could go when it was time to return home. They had tried out a different configuration of the banquet tables, and she judged the distance a little too close, and made her exit in less-than-graceful fashion, clipping the edge of the center table as she side-swiped it and drove on outa there to go home and collapse with the Sunday paper like nothing had happened.
I went to check on her later in the afternoon. She was rested and wondering if any arrangements had been made for dinner! I was still full from hot dogs, but we settled on trying out a new local restaurant. Carrie, 2 kids, George, Gram and I shared so much good food, but the best part was them surrounding Birthday Girl to sing her Happy Birthday to You in Italian! So, you see, keeping plugging along and maybe some day you, too, can have such a happy birthday as this. Tune in again next year, when she celebrates the Century-Less-Ten.
She was so amazed at the amount of red, white,and blue decoration that had been attached to her scooter, that she decided to add to the effect by wearing everything in her wardrobe that had any or all of those colors. Right down to the shoes, she was the picture of Betsy Ross, or Martha Washington, or, maybe, Rube Goldberg's wife! You see, even with birthing four beautiful children (eat your heart out, you in-laws!) they can't all be counted on. One insists on having someone chop out his knee, one is running to the other coast for beaches when we have plenty right here, and so the eldest and the youngest were left to do the decorating of the scooter for the annual Memorial Day parade at Maralago Cay. Irene was so excited, she arrived at the clubhouse almost an hour early. No one could believe the sight: woman on scooter, but scooter is not visible due to excessive red-white-blue stuff hanging, dripping, blowing in the wind. Banners, flags, pinwheels, ribbons, flowers, you name-it, and it was red or white or blue on that vehicle. And there were leftovers of the dec's, as Jean, bargain-hunter that she is, sent John, scavenger that HE is to get plenty, and Joanne had a case of the Excessives, so we further decorated Christian's trike and Evangeline's stroller. The baby even had flowers on her pigtails. Together they all lined up and entered the parade.
Skipping many funny details like Mom sitting, early, on her scooter at the ticket table inside, greeting everyone, reminding them it was her birthday, and Christian riding around on that low trike, not being visible to the naked senior-citizen eye and jeopardizing many an old fart into what could have been severe accidents, we all awaited the flag raising and the following bar-b-que. Why they had this on Sunday instead of Monday, the holiday, is anybody's guess. All the church folks were piously peeved that by the time they arrived the baked beans might be gone. The military folks, in charge of the flag-raising, were perturbed that the buglers from Santa Luces HS band slept in, resulting in our having a tapless affair. The flag-raiser guy got the ropes tangled, but, being military, he figured it out in no time, and saved us from having to let the Old Glory touch the ground and require burning. Instead, they replaced the hurricane-ravaged old flag with a new one, and the acompanying Moment of Silence for those who gave their lives in the service of our country was shortened to a half-minute, in view of the 92 degree heat.
But, lest you think I am poking fun at the poignant moment of it all, I do apologize. The ceremony was very necessary, as we were all about to eat birthday cake, fresh corn, and all the fixins, and if it weren't for our military men, we couldn't even have this much fun. That was the trouble with them shortening the prayer time: we had to thank GOD for Uncle Bob, who flew the B-24's in the Pacific Rim, George's Dad who did radar, our Dad who shot guns in France when he wanted to do chemistry research, Trace, who went too many times to Iraq, Jay, who is in Okinawa when we want him home, and others.
Well, you all missed the cake, shared with the whole bunch of geizers, you missed Gram and Christian accepting their first and second prizes ($10 each) in front of the gathered masses, and Gram having to listen to many war stories brought on by the Memorial Day/birthday celebration. She did not use a cane, drove her scooter, bangles and all, right into the luncheon, and forgot how fast it could go when it was time to return home. They had tried out a different configuration of the banquet tables, and she judged the distance a little too close, and made her exit in less-than-graceful fashion, clipping the edge of the center table as she side-swiped it and drove on outa there to go home and collapse with the Sunday paper like nothing had happened.
I went to check on her later in the afternoon. She was rested and wondering if any arrangements had been made for dinner! I was still full from hot dogs, but we settled on trying out a new local restaurant. Carrie, 2 kids, George, Gram and I shared so much good food, but the best part was them surrounding Birthday Girl to sing her Happy Birthday to You in Italian! So, you see, keeping plugging along and maybe some day you, too, can have such a happy birthday as this. Tune in again next year, when she celebrates the Century-Less-Ten.
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