My nephew Hunter had his confirmation on November 11th in New Jersey. I had the day off, so I drove my parents there, and my sister hosted a dinner afterward. When we arrived, the household was chaotic, with my sister, her husband, daughter and son in various stages of getting ready and fighting. And so we sat and waited ( Read more... )

As usual, my brother Gary and I joined my parents in a drive up to Rhode Island for Thanksgiving. My other brother Robert lives in Rhode Island with his family, and they host Thanksgiving each year. It's always a lovely time. This time there were only 8 of us, as my sister and her family did not travel from New Jersey due to their taking care of ( Read more... )

This past weekend, I drove up to Rhode Island with my brother
for my other brother's son's high school graduation.
It's always a nice time there, and my brother and his wife created a very nice party
in a bucolic setting, where they live.

My nephew is lucky to have both sets of grandparents living.
Both sets of grandparents were there,
my parents, and my ( Read more... )

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A little fun with my brother.
This is currently the number one song in America.
We listened to the song twice before doing it.
I had never heard it before.

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This year I offered to host Easter for my family.
After last year's interesting Easter at my sister's:

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I have never hosted a holiday before ever. I am getting some help from my parents. The house is ready. 12 people will be here tomorrow! I am ready to cook my first ham!

Tomorrow, March 6th, is my paternal grandmother's birthday.
She was born in 1894 and died in 1992.
She had two children.
Each of those children married people with their mother's birthday, March 6th.
So March 6th is my mother's birthday.
And March 6th is the birthday of her only granddaughter.
March 6th.
Happy birthday Mom. Happy sweet sixteen,

I'm not a big cell phone person.
I never was.
My ex Frank got me one in 2000
after he couldn't track me down once.
That sounds bad
but he was actually right.
So since then I use it now and then.
I have kept it in my truck's glove box mostly
and carried it only when I needed to.
Then in December after Dean was diagnosed with cancer,
his husband Jamesjamescsc started ( Read more... )

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My mother's oldest living sister died friday, at age 92. I never met her. She lived for many years in Missouri. The last time she came east was in 1964, before I was born. In 1982 when my parents and I were on a driving vacation, we took a detour and went to Missouri to surprise Aunt Ruth with a visit. In those days before google maps and cell ( Read more... )