Bis-Abuela B-Day & State Crossing

We have a birthday girl today; my superb mother in law who also fills the role of bis-abuela (great-grandmother) to my granddaughters. She been restricted to her house since the onset of Pandemia as my wife’s family correctly cares for this family treasure. She usually comes to visit us for a couple months in the summer but once again Covid made that an unreasonable risk. Today we celebrate the lady who serves as the bedrock of my wife’s family.

Birthday Girl with her Twin Daughters
My Wife on the Right

I will always remember meeting her for the first time when my future wife and I presented our plan to be married to her at a Panama City restaurant. She was skeptical because she knew we’d only known each other for a short time. If she knew how short a time after I met my Favorite Panamanian when I proposed she would have been scandalized. Over the years I like to think I’ve won her over and I always look forward to her visits. That not just because my Favorite Panamanian has to behave when her mom is around either. She’s a gentle lady with a reserve of steel and she raised five incredible children, including my wife and her twin sister (which couldn’t have been easy). So happy birthday bis-abuela! She’s the same age as my own mother would have been so her birthdays also bring those memories.

I‘ve had a busy couple days. I had my pre-op appointment with my surgeon. He went over the procedure and what to expect. Since I’d read the book he recommended I didn’t have a lot of questions. They’ll have me up and walking on the night of the procedure and kicking me out of the hospital the next morning. My wife will also be able to visit me that day. Yesterday I was crisscrossing the state to visit a couple of properties of GMs that work for me. I went to the garden spots of Brockton and New Bedford. My route home took me through Providence, RI at rush hour (not for the faint of heart). In my recent forays into my ancestry I found I had a great grandfather (my mom’s grandfather) buried in New Bedford but that will have to wait for another visit.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn