60 Years and Still in Love

Today is my parent's 60th wedding anniversary. It would have been my grandparent's 94th wedding anniversary, as they were married on the same date. I am in Florida to celebrate. I am not only celebrating their anniversary, but also the fact that I am blessed to have 2 vibrant parents who can still out dance me. They have all of their faculties but just at a slower pace. Make no mistake about it, they are still the parents and we are still the children. Their wisdom and guidance supersedes ours. We have a small dinner party planned for Friday evening and are looking forward to it. I know I am blessed and thank god everyday for my wonderful parents.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It is 4:30am and it is raining. I will be leaving for the airport at 5 for my flight to Florida. I am a so-so traveler. A two hour flight is not too bad. If I went over seas, I think I would need a morphine drip attached to my arm. My lunch is packed and unless my ticket and driver's licensed have escaped overnight, they still should be safe in my bag. That once happened to a friend of mine. The ticket went missing as the taxi pulled up. In those days things were not computerized, so they cancelled the taxi and the trip. Six months later the ticket appeared. So, off I go, in the rain, and hopefully we will take off on time.

Crossing the Bridge

Last night, for the first time in ten years, I had no evening receptionist. Normally, if one girl cannot come in, another will fill in. Yesterday, no one was available. We had always said we would formulate a plan and cross that bridge when we came to it. I told each doctor they had to fend for themselves and I put a message on the answering machine. This morning I will see if I will be floating or drowning.

The Lists

I am leaving for Florida onWednesday morning and I do not want to forget anything, so I begin the task of list making. I put a piece of paper on my refrigerator and each time I think of something, I add it to the list. Years ago, I did not need a list. I had good memory retention. Nowadays, I have minimum retention. Maybe that is because my mind is so busy thinking for the people around me. One day, I am going to take a picture and it will come out with 6 heads attached to me. From Wednesday until Sunday, my brain will be on idle.
I get four days a year to rest my head. My sister will pick up the slack. I can't wait.

A Few More Kisses

After a fantastic weekend, my children will be returning to New England. One last brunch and off they go. The weekend was wonderful and the entire family got to meet our beautiful little girl. She was a real charmer and acted like a proper New England child. Well behaved and pleasant temperament. Seeing her in person and holding her is the best feeling in the world. There is no need for TV or electronics when she is here. She is the best entertainment ever. We passed her around like a football and she never cried. She was happy wherever she was at the moment. I also must give credit to Shelby. He knew that he was not going to be the center of attention and took it well. In a few hours when they pull out of my driveway, I will cry. Saying goodbye is always hard and now that "A" is here, it is so much harder. I have lots of pictures to look at until I see her again in May. Until then, I will have to be happy Skypeing and being a virtual grandma.

She's Here

My baby is here. She arrived last night and looked like a princess. I know that all grandmothers feel that way. My son and daughter in law have changed also. They went from my children to "A"s parents. They are so confident with her, as if their parenting skills laid dormant until the baby was born. She is a good girl, all smiles. She eats well and is a real charmer. She is comfortable with whomever has her in their arms. My son and daughter in law want to go to the gym today and asked if I would mind babysitting for an hour. They realized that it was a rhetorical question. That will be my special time to bond with my baby. Just the two of us, looking into each others blue eyes. I will fill her in on family matters and make sure that when her parents come home, she doesn't "spill the beans".

The Who

Last night I attended my first rock concert. I am still recovering. The Who came to the coliseum on their Quadrophenia Tour and we got tickets. The arena was sold out. When I walked in and looked around, most of the audience was over 50 years old. Grey haired men and for some reason, lots of blond women. Of course we know the blond color covered their grey. The 2 main members of The Who are now 68 and 70 years old. I was never a big fan of the group but I know their most popular songs. The concert began and for one hour I had no idea of what they were playing. It was a lot of loud sounds being played to film clips from 1940 until today. I guess that was the Quadrophenia part. I had been up early yesterday, went to work, then went to Manhattan to lecture and finally raced to the Coliseum for the show. I was exhausted and since I did not know the songs, I was also a bit bored. I put my hands on my head and tried to doze off until the songs I knew were played. I might go down in history as the first person to nap at a Who concert. Then it happened....the old grey haired men sitting behind me started to smoke marijuana. The smoke went into my lungs and gave me a sensation of burning. I still have a burning feeling as I write this. Between the smoke, the loud noise and people that are over 60, jumping around, I am sure someone will be at their cardiologist this morning.