The 50th Anniversary Weekend

David's parents, Nancy and George, have been married for 50 years. Naturally, their kids wanted to give them a party to celebrate. This is my version of the weekend:

David's sister, Cathy, lives in Aubrey, TX so she flew in from DFW to Bradley on Thursday afternoon. David's brother, Jay, lives in New Jersey. He drove to David's and we all had dinner that night.  After dinner I ducked out and let the siblings sit around and visit.  I went to work on Friday, but they drove up together to "surprise" Nancy.  (George was in on the party, but I think by then Nancy had everything figured out as well.)  Never the less, Nancy and George got to spend the day with just their three grown kids all at the same time - a real rarity.   They put together a book with all sorts of photos.  David snuck the albums out of the house and scanned them.  Then he sent them to Cathy, who put them in one of those self-published type books.  So, they have photos from their early years to grandkids and all in between.

For example, here's one of David at the beach (ha!):

So, everyone got to sit around and visit and look at  photos and have dinner and laugh and talk and whatever else they wanted to do.  And I got a "time-out".  I LOVE "time-out" time!!  After work  I went over to stay at David's house.  I put on my jammies and re-heated my leftovers from the night before and headed upstairs.  David had recorded 5 episodes of "Jon & Kate + 8" for me to watch over the weekend. (This is my newest obsession!  I LOVE that show....I've only recently discovered it and I am trying to catch up and see them all.  I'll have to blog my obsession with it one day....I'm HOOKED! I have just fallen in love with this family - like a lot of others I suppose.)  I fell asleep watching the shows and got up the next morning about 9:00.  I looked at the thermometer in the kitchen window:  75 degrees.  NO WAY, I thought.  I put my hand on the glass and it was pretty warm!  I headed out to the patio with laptop in hand.  From about 9:30 in the morning until about noon, I sat outside enjoying the warmer weather (not quite in the 70's really, but close enough).  I listened to The Ticket on the computer - the ramblings of The Tee Box.  I read a little.  I talked on the phone.  I emailed.  I was dreading going back inside. I could have stayed there all day.  But I had to be in West Chesterfield, NH by 6:00pm and I was planning to leave at 3:30pm to get me there by 5:30pm with room for a little traffic or whatnot.  This would mean that I really should at least get in the shower by about 1:30pm.  I still needed to pack and needed to roll my hair - twice.  I went in and made a grilled cheese for lunch and went back out on the deck.  It was SO NICE OUT....maybe I could shower at 2:00pm.  I mean after all, that's a good hour and half to get ready.  About 2:00pm, the clouds were starting to sort of roll in.  A period of sun was followed by a longer period of cloud and cool breeze.  By 2:30pm, I was inside and feeling okay about it.  I had taken full advantage of the sunshine!  What a nice day!

I only had an hour now, so I had to get moving.  I had been doing laundry as well that day and it was finishing up in the dryer.  I decided it would be more efficient to go ahead and shower at David's and get the whole "hair situation" going.  It could dry while I was packing and getting ready.  I had everything there I needed except my dress clothes anyway. I got out of the shower and into my "traveling jammies" and gold flip flops.  I painted my toes and put on my makeup.  I took the towel off my head and went into the bathroom looking for the hair dryer.  It wasn't there.  David took it with him.  Rats! I grabbed my stuff and got in the car and headed back to my apartment to finish getting ready.  By the time I was ready to go - everything packed and ironed and in the car - it was almost 4:00.  I had, what, 8 hours to get ready and I was running  late?  Typical.

I was wearing a top and skirt with black heels to the party.  It was on the hanger and in the back of the car. I didn't want it to wrinkle and I really didn't want to wear it for 2 hours in the car.  So at 3:50pm, I head out to get in the car in a giant t-shirt, grey yoga pants, gold flips flops, full "party" makeup and a head full of rollers (I am using three roller sets now, so we are talking a head full!).  I had rolled my hair once.  Taken it down.  Let it set for a half hour and then rolled it again to wear in the car to ensure that I would have some curl by the time I got to New Hampshire.

I get almost to Route 2 (about 10-15 minutes down the road) and I think to myself....did I bring my black heels?  No, really, DID I?  I dig around in the bag on the seat next to me.  No shoes. I pull over and look in my bag.  I had my sandals for tomorrow and that was it.  I looked in the back seat.  No heels.  Huh......if I was wearing pants, I might be able to get away with the black sandals, but in a skirt?  No way.  Gold flip-flops, ha, nope.  I have to go back.  I run back to the apartment, up the stairs (Oh, did I mention my neighbors are moving out, so every time I walk by the movers in jammies and rollers, I can feel the looks. I pretend not to notice.)  By 4:15-ish, I am off and running.  My GPS says I'll be in West Chesterfield by 5:56pm.  Perfect!  I know myself....good to plan in that extra time.

I stop at Exit 8 in Glastonbury for gas.  More looks.  Whatever.

Okay, now I'm really off.  I pull out four Brad Paisley cds and make my way through them all.  I'm sure it was a sight...here I am speeding along in my little black Honda with the Cowboys helmet on the back, sun-roof open.   Full head of rollers....full make-up...singing my head off.....ha.  More looks.  Whatever.

As I'm heading down the highway (that's lined with bare trees and tall stone walls), I notice in patches there is this bright yellow bush that appears every so often.  It lines part of the road in places....So strange to see color. I had been so used to the drab color and bare limbs.  It made me remember the bright yellows and reds and oranges from the fall. Spring must be on the way.  I'd spent the day in the sun enjoying warmer temperatures and now this....color! It was fun to watch for those patches....they just popped!

I know that Massachusetts has cops out every weekend (from going back and forth with David so many times).  So, if I'm going to make up time,  it's going to have to be in CT.  I go an average of 80mph all the way to the MA border.  I slow way down.  There are a few cops out, but I am going with traffic and I'm fine.   About 45 minutes to go and I haven't seen a cop in a while.  My GPS says I'll arrive at 5:50 now.  I need a little time to change.  A little grey/silver car zooms past me in the left lane.  "Let's do it - as Evan would say".  I pull behind him and we take off.  We are going about 85mph  in a 65 in the left lane when I see him.  There is a cop standing out next to his car with a radar gun in his hand and he's looking through the scope.  My heart pounds and I hit the brakes.  Rats! The car in front of me either doesn't see or doesn't care.  He pulls on ahead of me.  Not sure what the cop was doing, but he didn't pull either of us over.  Maybe he was just setting it all up.  Maybe he was waiting for someone going 90mph?  Not sure. But I pulled over into the right lane and stayed there the rest of the way.

So, about 5:45pm I pull into Brattleboro, VT.  It's the last stop before I hit West Chesterfield, NH.  Can I just say, Vermont is everything you think it is....it's that crunchy granola, no frills, living simple and eco-friendly, hippie, low-key, free and easy, Ben & Jerry's type of place. In other words....so not me!  I pull into a Wendy's that relatively crowded for 6:00pm on a Saturday night, but it looks like that easiest place to change. Yep....I do it.   I pull out my clothes from the back.  Got those heels!  And I walk  into the Wendy's as previously described.    Fortunately the bathroom is close to the door. I slip in as best I can and 10-15 minutes later, I come out ready for the party with jammies, rollers and gold flip-flops in tow.

I got there about 6:10, 6:15-ish.  There were other people in the parking lot and when I walked in everyone was mingling.  It was at the Chesterfield Inn, a really lovely place.  (Mary, it's the place we went to dinner that night with the Oakes').  If you want to see the place, it's here:  www.chesterfieldinn.com.

The party I'll tell in photos.  Here's the whole family before the party in the living room: 



Nancy looked so pretty! It was one of the first things I noticed when I walked in the room.  She had on this long black skirt and a pink, silk blouse that made her skin just glow. She's no bigger than a minute. She looked like the bride at the party! Just elegant....I don't even really think I told her that with everything going on.  The photos are nice, but don't do justice to how she looked that night.



The handsome brothers....ha....those grins look like trouble to me:



We didn't get a good photo of us, but I'll put it in anyway.  (As you can see, the curls didn't hold up in the humidity. Rats!)  You can see Robert Merfeld, the pianist in the corner of this photo.  He is an excellent concert pianist and just happens to live down the road from Nancy and George.  They can hear him play sometimes when they are out on walks.  Ariana Falk was there as well.  She played the cello.  During dessert they played a duet, appropriately titled "Romance".  It was amazing!  They did a great job!  We didn't get any photos of them playing....I think everyone was too mesmerized to move.



The tables had beautiful centerpieces and there was a larger floral arrangement on the mantel. We took a photo of them the next day:



Cathy made a second book, a scrapbook, with photos and notes and letters from their friends.  It was really nice.  She gave it to them as a surprise during the dinner.  George bought his bride of 50 years some beautiful earrings!



This was a little better of me (not much), but terrible of David, ha, so I cropped him out. We just couldn't get a decent photo together that night.  Go figure. :)

The Brockman's were nice enough to let us stay at their house that night and then there was a brunch at the Wolfs' house on Sunday.

The guys brought the piano over to the restaurant on Saturday and had to take the piano back over to the church before the service on Sunday.  So, we are all congregated outside trying to figure out who was going with who (whom?). David had already told me that I was to follow him in my car because we'd be leaving after the party.  No problem.  I get outside and it was decided that Nancy was going to ride with me.  Okay, no problem, but my car was kinda dirty. I have to be honest, I haven't taken good care of it this winter. It's just too cold to get out and vacuum and clean and whatnot. I put the bag in the backseat with my flip flops and jammies from the night before. There was an umbrella, a CD case and a few other odds and ends. I was a little embarrassed as she climbed in, but nothing I could do at that point.

We all got situated in the appropriate cars and headed out, caravan style. I was taking Nancy to the brunch and David and the others were going to the church and would meet us later.  We head to the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. When the cars stopped, out jumped Cathy and Aunt Jackie.  Cathy ran to a car and the next thing I know, Aunt Jackie is knocking on Nancy's window.  She wants to ride with us. Oh my, I think.  The back seat of a Civic Honda Coupe is SMALL! And when half the back is filled with traveling junk, it's really small!  Nancy jumps out and hops in the back. Aunt Jackie gets in front with me. One chinese fire-drill and two tiny ladies later, we were off to the brunch.  I think it was only a 10 minute ride or so. Couldn't have been much longer, but I had the best time! Aunt Jackie is a long-time friend of Nancy's from back in the New Jersey days. It was like being in the car with Mom and Marsha....Sounds goofy, I guess, but it was so fun talking with them. That short trip turned out to be the best part of the weekend for me. It was just that funny, comfortable, relaxed feeling that you only have with people that you have known a long time (A feeling I don't get very often up here as I am always the newbie/outsider) but they let me be in on it for a moment. I wished we could have made a wrong turn and stayed in the car for another hour driving and talking. It reminded me of the day that Mom and Marsha and I went to OK and then had lunch at that hole in the wall place with the pie....just talking and laughing and telling old stories. I LOVE to ride in the car and talk....got that from Mom.  I drove really slow, partly because I didn't want them to be car sick, and partly because I wanted to stay in that car as long as I could. I hope that I will get to see them again sometime in the summer.  They were so fun together! Here's a photo of them back at the house:

 

The brunch was really nice. A low-key time to sit and visit. There was all sorts of great food. We visited there until about 12:30 and then everyone headed back home. Cathy was staying until Monday and then she got to go back to Texas. (lucky girl!) I think that everyone had a really good visit.  I know it was especially nice for George and Nancy to have everyone there.

David and I rode home, my head on his shoulder most of the way, talking about family and home and marriage and love and all things important in life....the known and the unknown....our accomplishments and our failures....the happy and the sad of my move here....the success of our parents and their commitment to each other....all the while watching the patches of bright forsythia among the grey and brown stones and trees....







"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle."    ~ Amy Bloom