Jul. 06, 2003 - 19:07 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Remarkable Thing

Before Heather and I got up this morning our daughter took her husband and son to the airport to fly out to Poland, then she and her daughter were with us the whole day. What a happy day we had. Our official 60th anniversary party was held today. A day everyone could get off work. That is the way our family things come to pass. Togetherness is hard bought these days.

Disappointments were few really, neither of my cousins could attend due to physical infirmities and my old friend from where we used to work could not come because he is on duty today.

All five of our kids were here. In action of one kind or another. Our grandchildren and their mates volunteered, planned the action and pitched in, did all the cooking, serving the whole bit. What a great crew they are, no fussing or pouting and they meshed like precision made gears. And the priceless thing is that they stayed to clean things up too.

Heather and I had gathered photos from the time we were going together up to the present day and our daughter from Oregon brought nice, silvery frames for them. Different sizes too. They were scattered on tables and other points all over the party room.

It amazed us to see that big room of our complex full of people, mostly relatives but with enough non-relateds to make it interesting. In our book an in-law of ours is automatically counted as a blood relative.

It was a mix of all ages, from tiny infants up to old folks my age. I was glad to see my brother in law there, his son picked him up at his nursing home and brought him. He did get a bit peckish and demanded to be taken home, I can sympathize with him. There was a lot of loud crosstalk going on that I think got to him.

It was a warm day, sunny with a nice breeze. Some of the folks took a turn around the quad to make room for the cake.

And of course the big four foot picture that our kids had made for our 40th wedding anniversary was on an easel on exhibit once again. Makes me shiver to look at it. A dumb, willing boy on the threshold of the most wonderful thing in life. Oh, how babyfied I look, sheesh. Heather shines out in that picture as she always has through her life.

I guess one could say that the actual date of our anniversary was a pale thing compared to today. Heather and I took it easy, ate at a nice place, did patio duty and gabbed, but we enjoyed that greatly too. But today all the stops were pulled out and the commotion (civil, of course) was great. I can't remember just how many hands I shook nor how many times I shook the hands of the same people. Quite an event for an old pair I would say.

As Heather and I grow older we often stand at the cemetery to see a relative or an old friend put to rest. We are among the few still kicking around. But, one of our bridesmaids came today to celebrate the occasion, she is a few years older than I. Heather was her babysitter when the two of us met. One of Heather's lady schoolmates and her husband spent the afternoon with us too, survivors along with us. Now that was a most Remarkable Thing . . . . . . .

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