Best birthday gift--again

 I just got the best birthday gift!  It's not my birthday and it technically is a card, and not a gift per se.  But it was more exciting today than it was on my actual birthday back in 1984--yes, 1984.  

One of our nurses son has a radio show, well, several, shows, and one of them is called Vinyl in Your Pocket where he and his cohost play a vinyl record album and talk about the artist, songs and history.  He was running out of albums to play so I offered up some of our collection.  Gene and I haven't had a turn table in years but we have kept a bunch of records.  I gave Alek a handful of albums and he's played a couple so far (my favorite Zebra album being one of them).  

This morning, Nurse Staci came and handed me an album that Alek had played.  

Wow. I don’t even remember owning this album. But I know it is mine. I know it's mine one, because Gene never would have owned a Duran Duran album, and two, because I peeked into the sleeve and saw a jagged piece of red paper. I pulled it out and my heartrate immediately started picking up as I realized what it was.  I knew that hand writing.  

I know it’s not the best pic but can you see the writing?  That’s my best friend from childhood, Laura’s handwriting. Laura passed away from breast cancer in December of 2017.  In our later adult years, we hadn't been as close as we had in junior high and high school but we always knew that each other was out there for each other.  Laura ended up living in the Pacific Northwest far away from our childhood in Long Island, NY.  I had skipped up to Vermont after high school and have remained planted here.  She was one of the smartest people I knew.  Her dad was a chiropractor and Laura ended up becoming a chiropractor and became a naturopathic doctor.  She was pretty crunchy :)  We may have drifted apart...she getting into the things she loved and I got married and Gene and I had two kids both with a neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy, type 1.  So both Laura and I were enmeshed in our current lives but we always had our childhood and teenage memories.  Boys, friends, our twin Schwinn bikes, the park, the sleepovers, the parties, the vacations, the music.  And we were there for each other.  

I was still half asleep as I had been nurse Mom to Casey overnight and hadn't even finished brewing my French Press yet.  But I couldn't wait.  I pulled the card from the envelope and my heart skipped a couple of beats.  I had no memory of this card but I obviously had read it since it was ripped open.  

So funny!

I laughed when I pulled the card out. NOT a typical card choice for Laura to have made. 

Here is what she wrote:

7/28/84

Dear Sue-

I always get you a mushy card, the same kind all the time.  For the big 21 I decided to be different. And since this is the year to drink...

HAVE ONE (hundred) ON ME! 

Well, 

HAPPY 

BIRTHDAY!!

Love Always,

Laura

Moooch!!

......................

Oh, my heart!  Swamped with memories and feelings. 

Laura's moniker was Cow.  Actually, we didn't really call her that but MOOO was her byword, her expression, her way of saying hello and goodbye,  When I write on her Legacy Facebook page I always end with MOOOO!  

She ended this card with Moooch, which was one of the ways we'd say Love you/Smooch, etc.   

I don't know what made me peek into the album cover this morning, but I'm glad I did.  

‘Babysitting’

 

How to tell you had a 7-year-old hanging out for 3 hours. 

Lollipop wrap and stick randomly on the counter. 

Cow bell and silly glasses (eye brows and mustache wiggle). 

Red solo cup with Minecraft twisty straw with lots of ice and some water. 

And, lots of playing with Molly and also some Wii gaming!  He picked up the ‘old school’ controllers pretty well.  

He asked to be locked in with Molly!

OG Will: Scooby Doo and the Spooky Swamp

We can’t forget the old favorite, snake in the jelly bean jar. 

I know Molly will sleep well tonight!  And I imagine Conor will, too, after his fist week back to school and romping with Molly!

Desert Island Game

 ***not proofed, or edited or finished!***

My sister-in-law is one of my best friends. We have a lot in common but also we are very different. One thing we have in common is our love of lists/task/things to do, etc. We share ideas on our Notes app and comment back and forth.

Recently, Peggy proposed the Desert Island Game. We were to pick 10 things, sentimental things, that we could bring with us if we were to lived on a deserted island. There was a lot of back and forth about the rules, haha. Like does a group of similar things count as one or do you have to count each item. We finally decided that if the items were in the same category, they would count as one as long as the group of items didn’t exceed 10 items.

These are things that are precious to me for different reasons. Now that I’m looking at them, I see that they are mostly items associated with a family member that has since passed.

Here are mine:

The first item that would go in my desert island bag would be the Swiss Army knives that my dad gave me. Every since I was younger, maybe a teen, he would gift me one of the small, swiss army knives. They had the little scissors, knife, nail file, tweezer and pick. I guess I had been fascinated with Dad’s so he gave in and got me one of my own. Several have been lost over the years. I have the last two that he gave me. One is the traditional red one and one is has a cool blue and white pattern on it. I have one downstairs in my desk and one in the little teak wooden dish (also my dad’s) that I keep on my nightstand which also holds my chapstick. I use the knives for all sorts of things from cutting off tags on new clothing to filing my hang nail and even cutting my nails.

The next items I would bring with me are the 4 ceramic crocks that were in mom’s kitchen going back as far as I can remember. Each summer growing up we would go to Maine for a couple of weeks. We had certain places that we would stop at along the way. One of them was a pottery place. The man and woman were both clay artists and Mom loved their work. Each time we went Mom picked out another crock in the same blue color. Each one was a little bit different but you knew they belonged together. One was somewhat spherical in shape with a teak lid with a knob. One was a size down and was more straight up and down but had the same style lid. The next one down was the similar in shape to the second one but had a flat teak lid. The last one had was narrower towards the top and had a flat lid. They were all done in a very pretty blue. I’ll have to figure out how to describe the color. When I inherited the canisters a couple of years ago I was eager to have them in my kitchen. I cleaned the bodies up really well and cleaned and oiled the tops. Sugar, flour, rice and tea bags were added. Just like my mom had. I also had the metal scoop that she used in the sugar one and the sea shell that she used to scoop out the rice. Weird, I know, but it was what we did!

My next pick was Gulliver and Skipper. They are the epitome of my childhood. When I was in grade school, my dad took a sabbatical and we did some traveling. We went to England, Ireland, a brief visit to Scotland and then we spent two months on St. Thomas in a house of one of his colleagues. When we were in England, I picked out two small ceramic dogs from a gift shop. They are very similar to the ones that used to come in Red Rose tea (maybe they still do that?). But these have more defined and delicate features than the Red Rose ones. Gulliver is a puppy, a mutt, I guess, and he is sitting on his haunches and looking very sweet. Skipper is a retriever of some kind. He is standing up on all fours and he’s standing on a patch of grass. I played with these two for hours and hours. I had many other ceramic animals and plastic ones of all sizes, but Gulliver and Skipper were always the favorites and were always the head of the household. I had two story doll house that my dad and brother built for me that all my animals lived in. Gulliver was always in charge and was the oldest, and Skipper was second in charge. So many fun scenarios were created in this doll house where animals lived!

And then there is my comforter. It’s an alternative down comforter, light blue, twin size, that my mom bought me in my senior year of high school in preparation for college. I still have it and use it nightly. I even use it when it’s hot and muggy out, if just to hug or snuggle. It is kind of lumpy but I wash it and shake it out and try to get the lumps to even out. I actually just threw it in the wash today. These days I use a comforter cover so I can wash that more frequently and try to get the comforter to limp a long a little longer. I have been toying with the idea of asking Santa for a new one for Christmas but I don’t know if this is the year yet or not. What would I do with it if I get a new one? Throwing it in the trash seems inhumane. I know most people would think it’s gross using a 43 year old comforter but I’m very attached to it and it truly is a comforting comforter.

Pentatonix at the Fair!

 It finally arrived.  

I brought tickets on February 20, I believe, when they first went on sale.  There hasn’t been any ‘big’ performers during fair time that Casey was interested in for years.  He always enjoyed going to the Contois local show as they did cool tributes to the Beatles or Queen.  But we were ready for a big show. So when we heard Pentatonix was coming we decided to go for it!  

We had a couple of hurdles:  one, I hadn't been to the fair since the last time I had gone with Colin, which I think was 2013.  For some reason only Casey and Gene went in 2014.  I just couldn't bring myself to go without Colin.  I know, kinda weird, but grief is weird.  Thankfully, Gene and whoever he and Casey ended up going with (usually Nurse Julie) would bring me home a fried dough.  Two, when I bought the tickets, through e-tickets or some big ticket place, they told me that all the ADA tickets were sold.  Like what?  I bought them the first day they were on sale and there's always been room whenever we've gone to a show.  Well, Elton John was pretty packed as there were a lot of old people :)  But Elton John was not at fair time, either.  I called the ticket place again and they said the same thing.  I tried calling the fair grounds and they said they didn't have anything to do with selling tickets anymore. So, since February I'd been having that weigh on me worrying.  I had to buy seats on the floor which would have been a pain with his big power chair AND you never know about the weather during fair time and the floor seats are out in the open and the ADA seats are covered and up a little higher so there's nothing to block the view like floor seats would if you're sitting in a wheelchair. Three: Molly Sue. She still has never been left alone at home as she's a nervous ninny.  So it was decided that Gene and Molly would drive us in the van and leave us off, and Nurse Julie, Aunt Chris, Casey and I would go to the fair and show.   

Now we had to wait 6+ months!  Casey pretty much wished the summer away, lol.  Staci made this count down chart for Casey because he kept asking when the show was going to be.  She also made a fake ticket for him. 

Fast forward to the Friday before the show.  We find out that Owen Reilly was coming up to go camping in Fairfax which is the town right next to us!  Owen is the middle son of our friends, Karen and Bill.  We've know them since their Connor was diagnosed at 6 weeks of age in 2002.  He was 11 months younger than Colin.  Sadly Connor passed in July of 2023.  Connor was Casey's best friend and we would see him and Karen every week day in book group.  But, we're friends for life!  

Owen and friends planned to go to the fair while they were here and our times coincided!  I texted Owen when we got to the Expo building and in minutes he was right there!  It was good to hug a Reilly again.  He spent about an hour and a half hanging with us and walking around checking out the exhibits. 

Casey and Owen!  Casey's eyes are open!

Two pics!

Pollinators was this year's theme

Always have loved the annual sand sculpture.

Record breaking pumpkin!

Me and Owen!

Then the weather turned.  It got dark and windy and we decided to take cover.  Owen had to go meet his friends.  We went to the box office and asked about the ADA seating and if we could change our tickets.  She assured me that if we had needs they by law had to accommodate us.  I felt better after that. 

Then we found Bill W, Julie's bf.  I won't go into the whole story since this blog is mostly for me to remember things and I know all about Bill.  But short story is that Bill, used to cater for all the shows at the fair. He has since retired from catering but he knows EVERYONE at the fair and everywhere else he goes.  If there was to be a picture in the dictionary of a 'people person' Bill W would be there, lol.  

We went into the venue, and of course he knew everyone.  All we had to do is to find a blue shirt person to help us and of course there was one who knew Bill and they ushered us right into the handicap area.  Technically, we all shouldn't have been in there but they let it slide.  From what I remember the boys could have a nurse with them and a companion.  We had a nurse and 3 companions.  It did get pretty packed and there was shuffling around but I think everyone had an okay and comfortable viewing spot.  It's an rectangular are with only fold up chairs so the area could accommodate an assortment of chairs and walkers, etc.

And then we decided we needed food.  Somehow I was elected to go with Bill.  And, then it rained and poured.  It was a mess!  We wanted fried tacos but the line was super long so we ended up with sausages for me and Julie, hot dog for Aunt Chris and roast beef sandwich for Bill.  I don't know how long we were gone but we must have talked with at least 10 different groups of people that Bill knew!  he had to explain to people that I was Julie's clients mom and that he wasn't stepping out on Julie, haha. 

At least we got some rainbows!

Nurse Julie and the rainbow

Me and the Big K.  A little antsy for the show.

Me, Chris and Bill

Not happy about pics at this point

The rain stopped. And then the show finally started.  It really was amazing!  Casey and I had Googled their tour schedule so we knew what songs to expect.  And we watched a lot of their YouTube videos.  I was really looking forward to Bohemian Rhapsody and Hallelujah but unfortunately Casey's belly acted up and he became uncomfortable in his chair so we made the decision to leave the show early.   

We made our way out and texted Gene.  He was already waiting for us at the fair exit.  We got to hear a few more songs on our way out, so that was good.  

We made it home and quickly got Casey down so he could be more comfortable.  Julie did his treatment and got him ready for bed while I unpacked and cleaned up stuff and got things ready for the night.  Nurse Deb is on vacation for 16 days so I am the night nurse.  Julie felt badly for me so she has committed to doing 2 nights this weeks so I won't have to do 16 nights in a row!

Oh, PS.  At one point Julie went out and got us fried dough!  I got the nuggets and Julie and Aunt Chris got the one big one.  These days when you ask for maple syrup they give it to you in a little covered cup.  Much less messy!