Into Each Life

A little, etc. etc. While I am safely ensconced in a true paradise, my body seems to have rebelled against the increased fun. I can’t lift my left arm to shoulder level without a sharp pain in that shoulder. I’m pretty sure it’s just a case of tendonitis after a lot of lifting during the move in, a daily swim workout, and then some extended boogie boarding. The upshot being I can’t boogie board or swim until it calms down. It’s funny how much you have to lift your left arm daily. I get a stark reminder every time I forget. Adding insult to injury, my resident nurse, my Favorite Panamanian, is not in residence. After a very fun weekend with her mom and Tia Loca with us, she returned to David to accomplish the usual January requirements, like getting our car registered.

Last Night Sunset Social Hour with Upstairs Neighbors

Keeping the Faith Sunday

The Upstairs Neighbors, stalwart friends that they are, provide the needed assistance and social contact I find lacking in my wife’s absence. In addition to the proverbial rain referenced above, we had two sunsets in a row rained out. Not that we need a visible sunset to have our sunset social hour. La Nina is apparently affecting Panama as well with a delayed dry season arrival. We snuck one in yesterday when the sun set through a hole in the clouds. I know I shouldn’t be complaining since we are still in a tropical paradise. I also saw on the news today that New England will experience an ice storm tonight. That being the case, I’ll publish the photos of that beautiful sunset here to help lift morale. It’s what I do.

Since I can’t use my left arm for much of anything, I dragged out a spare table yesterday to work on a puzzle. It helped that my wife wasn’t in residence to object. Keene Friend gifted me a puzzle with a picture of one of the KHS class of ’73 mini reunions we had a few years ago. It was strange seeing well-known faces, including my own, emerge as the pieces came together. Since I was sans boogie board, I finished it fairly quickly. The best news is that three of the faces from that photo will be joining us in March. The guy in a red sweatshirt (Keene Friend 2) and the guys on either side (Keene Friend and the Cantankerous Friend). I’m excited to host them as their travel plans are coming together. In the meantime, the picture of the puzzle overlooking the beach will have to suffice.

The Puzzle

Looking onto Beach

Back in the States, school vacation has ended for granddaughters. They seemed to have mad ethe most of it, with the NH bunch skiing and the FBR hanging with her neighborhood friends. She attended a women’s professional hocky game last weekend with those friends and had a great time. She also appeared on the jumbotron which was a true highlight. That makes two jumbotron appearances within one year for her since she, along with the BRS and BR3, appeared with me when the WooSox honored me as a veteran in August. That marks a significant accomplishment since the FBR had tried mightily at prior games during between innings dance contests but never made it to the big screen. She looked very happy at the hockey game.

FBR at the Hockey Game

On the Jumbotron!

Back in August

Finally, a sad note, I swing by my hometown newspaper online each day and saw that a beloved member of my early life had passed away. My Auntie Lee was a fixture in my household form my earliest days. She was a close friend of my mom and we lived across the street from each other for a number of years. Each Christmas when I returned home for Christmas during my Army career, a stop at Auntie Lee and Uncle Gus’ house was a highlight. She made my Favorite Panamanian feel truly welcomed. SHE made it to her nineties but we hadn’t seen her in a couple years as her health deteriorated. She takes with her so many great memories. I won’t make her funeral tomorrow but both my wife and I will be there in spirit to honor this fabulous lady. I feel a real sense of an end of an era with her passing. She was the last vestige of my parents’ generation that was still around. The last of their close friends to depart. Rest in Peace Auntie Lee, you will be missed.

R.I.P.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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; CRC - 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; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course