Hi Friends,
I hope you are all doing well. Thank you for the messages and comments on the last blog. Elder-parent care has arrived for us baby boomers, ready or not. And our children will be caring [cough] for us, in the not-too-distant future (hi kids ;).
Thankfully, wound care, meal prep, dental visits, independent/assisted living, and on, aren’t the only things that inspire blog content these days. Jeff and I attended his 40th high school reunion on St. Simons Island a couple weeks ago. Ten years ago, he joined me at my 30th in Beaverton, Oregon.
Jeff was voted most likely to succeed. Given that he helped raise two grounded, faith-filled girls, that superlative is validated. He was also valedictorian with a co-valedictorian (Tom). Tom (a physician practicing in Nashville, TN) was also at the reunion. The cool thing was that neither of them had ever attended a reunion and neither of them knew the other was going to be at this one.
If you haven’t been to the Georgia barrier islands where Glynn Academy is located nearby, you’d be mesmerized by the indescribable live oak trees that are dripping and draped in spanish moss.
The deck in this photo was built around the tree.
Glynn Academy Class of 1981 was full of friendly, smart, partying people. Several of them remarked about how smart Jeff was. One person said that she rode the bus with him and that "he never took books home" while everyone else was lugging heavy bags.
My reunion and overall high school experience was a lot different than Jeff's. His school was very preppy and mine was very liberal. Aloha High School class of 1980 was highlighted by friends, Rhonda and Lori. Friends were everything to me.
I wasn’t “involved” in high school like Jeff was and I wasn't "someone" like he was, except maybe to my friends. Everyone knew Jeff at his, not so much at mine. A favorite part of mine was spent when friends met up separate from the reunion.
When the high school fun and games were over, we headed to Urbana-Champaigne to celebrate Diana’s 24th birthday. Y’all: when you walk out of Diana’s front door you are in a botanical wonderland, like one step away. If you’ve ever been to Chicago's Botanical Garden, this is a smaller version. There’s even a Japanese garden section.
I’ve heard the colors in the northeast are amazing in fall. The midwest might be a close second? Georgia is beautiful too, but a little behind Illinois. Fall happened twice for us this year.
We stayed in an old, Victorian, bed and breakfast. Halloween decorations inside the house made the home legit spooky. One night, when Jeff was driving Diana home, I literally ran upstairs because the floor was creaking in different places but no one was around.
We watched the Braves bat their way to World Series Champion in these pics. Does the house look a little spooky? Do you know what I mean??
When we got back to ATL it was time to check on mom. We drove to her house only to find her not home -- like the time I ended up in the ER with her. Lord have mercy. Where oh where could she be? Lo and behold we found mom and her friend Marilyn (93) in a booth in the very back of O’Brian’s Tavern, a British-style neighborhood pub. These two gals were chatting each other up, Marily sipping Chardonnay. We uprooted them from the booth to a table and caught up on happenings. I’m sorry to say Marilyn’s 10-year-old dog is not doing well :( Prayers appreciated. Nothing sucks more than losing a pet, imho.
Needless to say, mom, Diane, Gam, Nana, Grandma, Aunt Diane, whoever she is to you is doing well. I mean, she was hanging out in a pub on Halloween for crying out loud??
Thank you for reading!
Love, Shelley
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love ~ John 4:18
But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’ ~ Matthew 19:26
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