Remembered Treasure

Yesterday saw the change in the execution of plans. It was going to be a very difficult day for my big sister since she should have been celebrating her 41^st anniversary with Soxfather. Our original plan would have had us hosting her for a day away from Cranston. She called late last week to change things up. She wanted to stay at home and asked if I would come down to help her with a couple of home projects. That was, of course, an easy request to honor. It allowed me the opportunity to once again familiarize myself with an old nemesis – Chinese assembly instruction writers.

With Great Aunt Yesterday

One of the tasks she had for me was to assemble a large storage chest for her deck. It was fairly simple but my old buddies in China sent assembly instructions that merely had pictures along with some fractured English. Luckily Great Aunt has a lot more patience than I do and was able to translate the more difficult parts. I truly enjoyed the time with my sis as I knocked out a bunch of small jobs she had stored up for me. It kept both of us very busy. She’s created a laundry room off her kitchen and I had to move some of the larger objects from its prior incarnation as Soxfather’s sports watching station.

The Assembled Box

This included disconnecting and then reestablishing cable connections. I’ve seen the cable guys do this on so many of our household moves that I felt fairly confident I knew what I was doing. I still breathed a definitive sigh of relief when she turned the TV back on and everything came up. We were surrounded by memories of Soxfather with his prodigious collection of Boston oriented sports memorabilia. Great Aunt encouraged me to take a couple things so I now have “Let’s Go” Red Sox and Bruins lights in the Man Cave. Soxfather also had dozens of DVDs, mostly sports related but there was a healthy section of Hogan’s Heroes, the West Wing, and the Three Stooges.

Soxfather Bequeathed Treasures

She allowed me to take a few with me since she doesn’t watch DVDs any more (jeez, even my older sister, I really am a dinosaur). It will surprise no one who knows me that I chose a few celebrating the magical 2004 Red Sox, to include a set with all playoff games from that subline October. Great Aunt took me out for a steak lunch which was the best part of the day as we got to truly talk which I think helped both of us a lot. It was a day spent with Soxfather as well as his indelible presence in our collective memory remains an enduring true treasure.

This past weekend, assisted by my Favorite Son, I took in the last, hopefully, Halloween movie, Halloween Ends. I’d heard really bad things about this movie but this was supposedly the last featuring Jamie Lee Curtis and her evil brother, Michael, so there was no way I was gong to miss it. It turns out the naysayers were right. It was a sad farewell to these iconic characters. Michael had none of his implacable omnipresence that made earlier movies so frightening. He’s just along for the ride and even Jamie Lee seemed a little embarrassed for him. There were some cute homages to prior movies but this could have used more Jamie Lee and her benighted brother as the film stagnates with a poor story and underwhelming supporting actors whenever they are not on screen. A clear miss.

Two movies fell in my A-Z effort, both keepers, The Boondock Saints (a personal favorite, just love this movie, Rocco and the Cat, best feline scene in movie history) and Boondock Saints II, All Saints Day (doesn’t live up to original but still a lot of fun, Julie Benz as you’ve never seen her).

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course