THE CHILDREN AGE TOO
Once again I am a day late in
posting my update of our California lifestyle. To start with I need to include a comment
about Ken catching a cold somewhere in his travels. In the old days, a little cold was barely
anything but a slight nuisance to bear.
In our old age it, like all of the other little aches and pains, tends
to hang on. Ken has a tendency to exaggerate
his state of readiness and that, in spite of his best intentions, seems to
delay his overall recuperation. Since we
were planning to go to San Diego this weekend, I insisted that he take it easy all
week and do his part in making himself well for our planned celebration of
Marci’s birthday. And to that end he
seemed to comply with a certain degree of positive response by doing nothing,
drinking lots of water, etc. We did the
trip and all went well but in honesty, we are both getting to the point that we
are best described as two dawdling old fools!
Need I say more?
As indicated above, our emphasis
this week was on the celebration of Marci’s entry into that awesome group of
birthdays that begin with six. She and
Gary celebrated the actual date on their Alaskan cruise which they both seem to
enjoy immensely. Our dear son, bless his
heart (and I do mean that) can be a bit of a curmudgeon and somewhat critical
on occasion but he actually expressed praise and enthusiasm for their trip and
they both have expressed laurels for their accommodations, trip and adventures. It doesn't get any better than that!
The rest of us also wanted to
share in acknowledging Marci’s birthday and to that end, Lauren was responsible
for organizing and putting together a celebration that both the Helmstetter and
Burns family could share. To that end
she did well and she successfully oversaw a wonderful brunch for the immediate
family and close friends at the Hotel Del Coronado. It was an awesome occasion for all of us and
we are happy to report, Lauren and Sean were successful in accomplishing a
surprise event. Gary was his usual self and nervously lamented to all his concern that “Marci does
not like surprises”. Even he was a
surprise for Marci. He was supposed to
be working! At the last minute, Sean was called to work and he had to leave but
he was able to make a brief appearance and aided in achieving the surprise by
helping Lauren get the prized recipient to the “hotel on time”. Sean’s absence was a disappointment but alas,
his loyalty and sense of responsibility to his job is applauded in spite of his
Grandma Burns’ disappointment that she didn’t get to visit with him and do her usual "grill". (I think the grandchildren are leery of Grandma Pat's nosey nature.)
.
Lauren and Marci were scheduled
to do a concert in San Diego on Saturday night.
Lauren had thought that Marci would drive to San Diego Friday night and
that she would take the dogs, Holly and Oakley, to San Diego when she went down on Saturday. Marci decided instead that they should go
down on Saturday together rather than separately, thus creating a bit of
problem for what to do with the dogs without raising suspicion. Of course, with Marci’s plan Gary would be
home to take care of the dogs but they could be left with us during the day! Lauren
made a panic phone call to us and of course, we could watch the dogs. A slight bump to the surprise had thus been
averted. We filled in the gaps with the dogs and everything was back on track.
Terri rode to San Diego with Gary
early Sunday morning and came back by train Sunday afternoon. So a dog walker was arranged for our
cumulative three dogs (two at Gary’s – Gary took the dogs home when he got home
from work) and Terri’s here. Gary and Terri left
at 7 and unlike most days of travel to San Diego they made great time and
arrived in San Diego before 9. However,
as they got into San Diego Gary had a problem with his car and they were barely
able to coast into Coronado where a frantic phone call to Lauren resulted in
Lauren meeting them and exchanging cars.
Gary and Terri were then going to come to our hotel for Gary to change. To complicate things, when we gave Terri the
address of the hotel she misunderstood the street which further exasperated an
already “frustrated” brother. They finally arrived at our hotel a little after 10. As
Gary grabbed his clothes from the car, he discovered he had left his pants in
the other car. He had to rush back to
get his pants from the other car and then, find someplace to change (everyone
was supposed to be at the hotel by 1045!) and get to the hotel to be part of
the surprise. To say it was a hectic morning for Gary (and
one to be unforgotten by Terri) might be an understatement.
I think Terri was glad to change
cars and ride to the hotel with two old
people who might be a little slow but less irritable. However, when I grumpily responded to her dad
she retorted, “Between mom and Gary, the morning has been full of grumpy” – or something
to that effect. She and Ken maintained
their sweet cheerful self (I think Ken tried to sing – but he was a bit off
tune) and I remained quiet! In spite of
everything, it all went off, everyone arrived and we had a wonderful
celebration and Marci took the surprise with the class and dignity of
Marci. She is a special lady and Gary is
a lucky man to have her as his wife, Sean and Lauren are lucky kids to have her
(and as his mother, I believe) Gary as
parents. Of course, as parents and
grandparents, we are very blessed! Life
is good!
I have a lot to say about the
state of affairs of all things “America” but I do not want to destroy a happy
celebratory report by bringing in a touch of reality but be assured, I have it
all pent up and it is coming.
Love you all – friends, family
and foe alike!!
