Apr. 13, 2003 - 19:21 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Rotten

The weather behaved itself for the last few days and today it surpassed itself in good deportment. 82 degrees, light breeze, puffy clouds in the sky, the smell of earth and things growing, trees in leaf.

What a great finale to a three day birthday celebration.

Heather cosseted me and took me to dinner on Friday as well as giving me a few things. Saturday youngest son came to dinner and stayed late. We had a great visit. Today was the appointed time for the family to gather. A spread of ice creams and cakes, soft drinks and coffee was consumed on the slab outside our apartment door. It is reasonably sheltered by the balcony above us.

It was a time of superb fun and teasing, the kind of thing I enjoy so much. To see our kids, grown to adulthood and acting more like family than anyone could wish for.

The women called us in for the birthday cake ceremony, all lit up and creating a heat wave waiting for me to blow it out. I looked up and in aloud voice said, "Pray for wind !" and blew the whole works out. Cake replaced on the plate, ice cream and cake were served and we hied ourselves back outside.

I spent time opening goodies. Two books, "Chicken Soup for the Fathers Soul," looks like an anthology, I recognized the names to two of the authors, but there are many more. The other book is, "Lake Wobegon Summer 1956," by Garrison Keillor, a story about a boy becoming an adolescent. I can hardly wait to get into them. There were more goodies than I deserved, prime though was four shirts of the kind I love, short sleeved, thin material, cotton with enough synthetic to make them wash and wear. Just what I wanted and they came at the proper time for me to spend a happy summer wearing new stuff. There was a bit of cash from here and there that I can spend on riotous living, like printer ink, paper etc.

I'm not sure, maybe I am just writing this to myself so that I can look back and remember how good it really was. I suppose every one else will consider this old man mawkish and overly sentimental. But to me, I wouldn't feel whole without a loving family behind me. The only sadness was that our youngest daughter couldn't come in from Eugene, Oregon. She, her hubby and their brood will be here on a visit for her birthday in July though.

Being an only child with very few relatives in town my psyche said that there was a great need for me to have brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas. There was an unfilled emptiness for me. I was born a family type guy, with little family to love. I married into a wonderful, large family and we have our own progeny now.

I told the bunch today that we would have to quit having these things as every time we have one I seem to be a year older, pretty soon I will run out of years maybe ?

For the most part I enjoyed having the seniority today to enjoy being spoiled Rotten . . . . . . . . .

Blog